by Connie Lau and Vivien Liu

A NEW PAGE OF DRAMA

Drama in HK has changed a lot since it first set foot in China 100 years ago.

“The ‘celebrity effect’ of Chim is only a deployment to promote dramas.”

Moving from a niche culture to popular entertainment, western-style theatrical drama in Hong Kong has changed significantly since it

first came to China 100 years ago. Drama has appealed to the mass public by adapting to the commercial environment and transforming itself to be more interactive.

Jim Chim Sui-man, a leading actor in the drama industry, has gained great success in recent years; Man of la Tiger, a solo drama by Chim, has had 128 performances since its debut in 2005. The show broke the attendance record for solo performance of local dramas in May of this year, having been seen by over 90,000 people.

Chim founded the Theatre Ensemble in 1993 with his wife Yan Wing-Pui, who is also a veteran drama actress and producer. Chim has produced more than 30 dramas in the past 15 years. He has also acted in local movies since 2001, and was nominated as Best Supporting Actor at the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards for Driving Miss Wealthy.

Chim Sui-man dressed up as, the two candidates running for the Chief Executive election last year in the poster of Man of la Tiger 2007

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“Some artistic qualities have to be sacrificed if you want to appeal to the mass.”

“The ‘celebrity effect’ of Chim is only a means to promote dramas,” said Stephen Chan Chung-yan, marketing and communications manager of Theatre Ensemble. “He has a duty behind (his involvement in movies). It is to popularise art.”

Chan admitted that there was an intention for their promotions to cater to the taste of the mass. “For example, Chim dressed up as Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Alan Leong Kah-kit, the two candidates running for the Chief Ex-ecutive election last year in the poster of Man of la Tiger 2007,” Chan said. “We try to stimulate audiences’ reactions by using themes which Hong Kong people would be sympathetic to.”

Though such marketing strategies aimed for appealing to the mass, Chan said that the quality of the drama would not be lowered. “The dramas are still educational and they inspire audiences to have introspection on social issues. Their artistic quality is high,” he added. “What we do is only to

bring out the art in a more entertaining way.”

While Chim has been involving in mass entertainment industry like movies and advertisements, some artists from the entertainment industry are moving into drama. Sammy Leung Chi-kin, a popular DJ in Commercial Radio (CR), founded the Sammy & Siu Yi Ensemble in 1999. Each summer since then, a drama has been produced. There was a message behind each of their dramas, Leung added. For instance, Big Nose, which used a circus to represent a psychiatric hospital, projected his feelings after being reprimanded by CR in 2006.

Leung described the dramas they produced as “pop operas” because they had added some new elements which were not found in traditional opera. “Traditional operas and musicals use songs to tell the story,” he explained. “But songs in our drama are only for emphasizing the feelings of a particular moment in a plot.”

Another characteristic of Leung’s productions is that most of the actors are not professionals. Every year, teenagers are recruited as voluntary actors and pop stars are invited to play in the dramas. For example, singers like Joey Yung Cho-yee, Denise Ho Wan-see, and Fiona Sit Hoi-kei were invited to play in this year’s production.

Leung said the penetration of pop stars into local dramas was good because pop stars and traditional drama actors could affect and benefit one another. “In recent years, traditional dramas have become more entertaining, while many pop singers like Denise Ho Wan-see and Miriam Yeung Chin-wah have added stage elements into their concerts and performance,” he added.

Still, singers and stars who are not professional drama actors may need to take extra effort in practice. “We have to spend much time learning the body movements and facial expressions in drama,” he said. “You spend a long

period of time preparing for just one night’s performance.”

Tickets for this year’s production, Lokamochi Mamiba, are on sale for the first time. In past years, tickets were distributed as gifts in radio programmes. This time, all the tickets were sold out in two hours.

“Some artistic qualities have to be sacrificed if you want to appeal to the mass audience. We are just like the cover of a magazine which is rich and

flourishing,” Leung said. “What we want to do is to make people take the first step towards a basic knowledge of the great art of drama. After all, the ability to make one smile is also an art.”

While some in the drama industry modify themselves to approach the mass, others choose a different way. On Valentine’s Day, a couple quarreled in a street in Mong Kok and were surrounded by a crowd. The woman found out that the man had another girlfriend and wanted to break up with him. The man asked for the woman’s forgiveness. When the woman was ready to leave, a passer-by gave the man flowers and encouraged him to propose to the woman.

The man and the woman were not a couple at all. They were actors of FM Theatre Power performing in the street. When they revealed their identities at last, the audience in the street was surprised and impressed.

“It is an interesting way (of performing). I have never seen before. It is attractive and increases my interest in drama in some sense,” said Leung Wai-jan, who has not seen this kind of drama before, “at least, it lets me have more chance to approach drama.”

“It gave me a big surprise, as I don’t know they were performing,” said another audience member, Chan Si-man. “After that I thought more about what they wanted to tell us. It is quite interesting and meaningful!”

“This kind of performance is called ‘invisible’ drama,” Dr. Lo Wai-luk, Associate Professor of Cinema and Television of the School of Communication of Hong Kong Baptist University, explained. “It is a form of interactive drama that originated during the war against Japan in China in the 1930s.”

“Traditional drama interacts with the audience through eye contacts and applause,” said Dr. Lo. “Interactive drama needs the audience to be involved in the drama instead of playing a passive role.”

Banky Yeung Ping-kei, the Art Director of FM Theatre Power, said that interactive drama was an easier way to approach a wider audience. “Though (we have) no stage, no seats, no theatre and (we only) play in the street, interactive drama is more efficient in connecting with the audience directly,” Yeung said.

“The government proposed to develop West Kowloon as a cultural district. It only focuses on the establishment of the theatre,” said Yeung. “It is difficult to make the mass be concerned about the aesthetics of drama arts.”

Interactive drama takes many other forms, like ‘people theatre’ and ‘forum theatre.’ Yeung said ‘people theatre’ meant the theatre of the people, for the people and by the people: “Actors and audience have equal status in people theatre.”

For ‘forum theatre,’ according to Yeung, the audience is encouraged to join in the middle of the drama and so they are able to change the ending of the story. “This lets the audience know that there is more than just one possibility in the world,” Yeung explained.

Whether traditional or interactive, Yeung thinks that drama should be inspiring. “The main element of art is people,” said Yeung. “People make up lives, and drama should originate from our daily lives.” V

“The main element of art is people.”

Sammy leung Chi-kin founded the Sammy & Siu yi Ensemble in 1999.

Banky yeung Ping-kei refers interactive drama as an easier way to approach a wider audience.

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