Today, the bow tie is gone, and so is that fiery spirit that urged him to pronounce 'I'll be back' after the results were announced nine years ago. What lies behind the glasses, the only artefact to remain from those hectic days, is disenchantment with Hong Kong's political game and its players - including some of those who backed him in that campaign.

'Politics is being made into a part-time profession these days,' he says. 'It only gives you parking space in Central, government officials have to take your calls and what you do is just shouting matches. There are so few politicians who are really committed and responsible for what they do.' Even political grandees such as Lee and Szeto Wah 'have done quite a few stupid things - the media is just not critical enough'.

His disdain towards the political establishment is much in evidence in his recent work. Arts collective Zuni Icosahedron's East Wing West Wing series, which Woo writes and directs jointly with long-time working partner Edward Lam Yik-wah, is awash with criticism of shallow sloganeering politicians. One theme that underlines the third and latest instalment, Mic On!! Mic Off!!, is the imbecilic vision of pro-democracy and pro-establishment politicians, the former with a simple and uninformed pursuit of universal suffrage and the latter with wretched arguments about - or against - democracy.

What fires Woo in his current work is his disdain for the lack of civic knowledge among the masses. While reviewers still see the East Wing West Wing series as primarily an entertaining and amusing social satire, it's easy to overlook the productions' educational aspects. The scathing gags directed at legislators, pop icons and even television presenters are punctuated with reflective scenes talking about the proper functions of the legislature and the lines of power within Hong Kong's social hierarchies.

The centrepiece for Mic On!! Mic Off!! is when four actors deliver an elaboration of the power structures and problems in Hong Kong's mass media. This segment is played out in front of a huge chart that illustrates the relationship between media organisations and the government's regulatory bodies. Such solemn elements echo the serious tone of the show's programme notes, in which the main piece is an essay Woo wrote for the Ming Pao Daily News on June 30: What is the way out for Hong Kong's development in democracy?

The provision of social knowledge through theatre is what he would regard as his 'service to the community' - a mission that he suspects is no longer feasible through running for public office. Although he admits he thought he could contribute his expertise in architecture and urban planning through a seat on the now-defunct Urban Council, he's more diffident about his work today, claiming it's all about providing 'an alternative voice' in society. For all his talk about apolitical cynicism, Woo refuses to let his satire be seen as a lighting rod for a resurgence in political awareness.

With Mic On!! Mic Off!! radiating discontent about the status quo, shouldn't artists stand up and be counted as well? 'Whether our productions can make an impact on social change or whether it could arouse awareness in Legco or the media, is not what we aim for,' he says. 'I'm just now trying my best to do good theatre - I don't think there's a need for us to enter the establishment now. That's an issue apart from the one we are dealing with, which is to voice our concerns about society.'

Using the stage to launch candid critique on social ills hasn't previously been Woo's modus operandi. Before the East Wing West Wing series, his work with the avant-garde Zuni had always leaned towards abstract theatre productions.

The change in his aesthetics in the last year or so coincides with the diminishing leverage he has with the authorities outside theatre. Since joining Zuni in 1989, he's been an outspoken commentator on cultural and social policy. The University of Hong Kong architecture graduate co-founded local think-tank the Hong Kong Development and Strategic Research Centre and was vice-chairman of the high-profile Hong Kong Cultural Sector Joint Conference during the 1990s. His articles have appeared regularly in local magazines and newspapers, from Hong Kong Economic Journal to Cup.

Although never appointed to official or statutory bodies, Woo and his Zuni colleagues bend ears within the establishment. Zuni has been close associates with former urban councillor Ada Wong Ying-kay, now the chair of the Wan Chai District Council and, until Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's cabinet reshuffle in 2002, widely tipped as a potential cultural minister. Zuni has also cultivated a close working relationship with the chairman of the now-defunct Culture and Heritage Commission, Professor Chang Hsin-kang. The cultural sector's Legco representative, Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, also listens to Zuni's advice.

Its influence was undermined when Patrick Ho Chi-ping was appointed Secretary for Home Affairs two years ago. Chang's proposals in reshaping arts and cultural institutions were shelved, and Woo says all channels of communication were blocked.

'The government simply refuses to listen to any ideas,' Woo says. 'Officials deem us invisible. There isn't a panel dedicated to cultural policies today, so work on that level would be useless, too. We might as well spend our effort doing other things. We are not exactly frustrated about things. It's just that there's no common interest between us and those in power. So we might as well do something that could lift the people's common interest towards the issues in society.'

This is something Mic On!! Mic Off!! has surely achieved. Using Commercial Radio's ousting of talk show host Albert Cheng King-hon as a springboard, the show unleashes cutting criticism against Hong Kong's media and how politicians are flooding the press with sound bites. Woo describes the media as brandishing 'a culture of mediocrity', with audiences bombarded day and night with substandard TV programmes.

True to Zuni's style, the bile was also directed at the show's audience. While not disputing this, Woo believes the show just makes people realise what their frustrations are. 'You can see that a lot of people are really animated about the jokes we had about TVB,' says Woo, referring to the gags that lampoon the idiotic 'commentary' provided by the station's guest Olympic Games presenter Vincent Kuk Tak-chiu or the channel's long-running 'comedy', Virtues of Harmony.

Theatre-goers seem not to have minded the misanthropy. Mic On!! Mic Off!! is fast becoming one of Hong Kong's most artistically and commercially successful theatre performances in recent years, receiving favourable reviews from theatre critics and politicians (even Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology John Tsang Chun-wah gave it a thumbs-up) and the show is raking it in at the box office. Having extended its run for two more weeks, its final tally of 32 performances at a regularly packed Hong Kong Arts Centre theatre would be something even flagship companies such as the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre could hardly match.

There won't be too much time for Woo to ponder his latest success: Zuni will work with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta in an audio-visual performance based on reworkings of Vivaldi's Four Seasons at the start of October. Woo and Lam then team up again at the end of October for The Great Entertainer, a satire of show business starring local theatre stalwart Jim Chim Shui-man and pop idol Gigi Leung Wing-kei.

For the time being, Woo says he elects to reach out to the masses through his art rather than through meet-and-greets. Still, he looks back at those bow-tie and garland-wearing days with fondness.

'The campaigning is boring and repetitive, but through home visits [to the electorate] you get to know of other ways of life,' he says, stressing its importance to holders of public office. 'The Hong Kong elite should never hide from such truths. They should know in what poor conditions some of the people are still living. They should feel their concerns.'

Mic On!! Mic Off!! Tue-Sat (except Sep 7), 8pm; Sun, 5pm, Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Rd, Wan Chai, $60-$160 HK Ticketing. Inquiries: 2893 8704. Ends Sep 19