Hoi Polloi [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The work follows an unpredictable track from scene to scene, often generating contrasts onstage. For example, in one moment, a performer careens across the stage with legs and arms flailing about, as if ready to fall, while the other dancers crouch in an orderly pattern. In another, while most of the group sways in contentment to a relaxing melody, three performers bite into apples with pained expressions as they stand aside.

Such scenes feel enigmatic and unmoored from any obvious direction, and leave the audience puzzled. This is compounded by the fact that the introduction in the playbook consists of only two vague sentences. Granted, even Inside could use a more generous description, but it overcomes this by successfully stirring the emotions, unlike Hoi Polloi.

Still, Hoi Polloi will leave you with plenty of quizzical performances to discuss after leaving the theater. And perhaps that's what the artist intended all along - to give the masses something unusual to talk about.