City Life
Master mentor hones Macau’s theatrical edge
May 06, 2012
Thirty people - actors, directors and backstage staff - gathered in the Macau Cultural Centre, to rehearse their latest theatrical production, Fanshen, the true story of a revolution in a small Chinese village.“The landlords have seized our harvest! We must get back our farmland!” actors shout in Cantonese, in a compelling performance onstage.
Hong Kong’s award-winning director Fredric Mao selected each of them to participate as part of his theatre mentoring project. It is a fine example of the type of cultural co-operation the Hong Kong and Macau governments are seeking to achieve.
For years, Mao’s mentoring project has helped train up theatre participants in Hong Kong. This year Mao extended it to Macau.
“We need some kinds of developments for these already established young artists, how to make them go further and to make them really think that they have a future, for them to take charge eventually,” he said.
Fanshen is a dramatic adaptation of a book by American scholar William Hinton which recounts his observations of a village in Shanxi in 1945, when poor farmers rose up against their landlords to improve their lives. Mao himself participated in Fanshen years ago, in the original English version. Now, he is the artistic director of the world’s first Chinese version.
Impressive impresario
In the production, 11 actors and actresses play the roles of more than 30 characters. This means each performer must take on more than one role. Actor Sam Weng-kan, aged 67, says he has found Mao to be a professional instructor who can choose the most suitable characters for each performer, by observing their personalities and styles of acting.
Anna Ieong, a young actress, has taken part in productions in Hong Kong and Macau. She appreciates Mao’s fun style of teaching, and his expertise.
“He is very professional. He is very clear about every dramatic instruction, and also stage directions, spacing, directing notes, so it’s really helpful for the actors to do on stage,” she said.
Ieong also believes the mentoring project benefits drama development in Macau and allows more local artists to gain experience and hone their skills.
Co-operation key
Two young directors, Johnny Tam, 27, and Philip Chan, 28, are co-directors of Fanshen. Mao selected them to work together under him, as both graduated with drama-related degrees, and have worked in theatre for years, as actors, assistant directors and musicians.
The mentoring project is not for newcomers, Mao said, but for training talented and experienced people, to help them reach their full creative potential. The project requires them to interact and respect each other. The pair of young directors set a good example as they discuss with each other the best way to reach an objective.
Mao made a weekly commute from Hong Kong to Macau for the past eight months to help shape the production. From casting to script analysis, action and backstage management, he provided his professional input for every aspect of the show, to make it flawless and allow every participant to shine.
Following its successful run the last weekend of April, the team hopes to stage it in other cities. They also anticipate collaborating on new projects, to share the valuable lessons learned from the master.
