Hofan Chau's Page

H: It's fun to return to (yet another) rerun of the same play, because it gives me a point of comparison. In rehearsal, the thing that struck me the most was how large a range one has to interpret each line... how each line can be flexed and thrown in many different ways to convey different nuances of emotion. I don’t think I was aware of this range two years ago.

I also have a much deeper respect for the construction of the play. It's a really well constructed piece, and now I can appreciate it in a way that I wasn't completely aware of before. And because half of the cast is new, this time around I am aware of the different possibilities.

I did find myself itching in the earlier rehearsals to give my opinion about this and that to Bonni. I guess after two years of training you learn to be quite opinionated and think that you know a lot about "what makes a play work." In fact, in Lecoq if you don't speak up then you'll never get to create the piece you want because everything is group directed. However, here I am hired in a different relationship, and I need to respect the boundaries of this relationship. Because it is not so helpful sometimes for a director to get so many opinions from all directions; and I really trust Bonni's theatre sense. It may just be that she is thinking of something else at that particular moment; or that she wants to bring out a different quality. So my role is to work on my performance, and I give comments on the scenes that I'm involved in.

Right before rehearsals started I watched another production of Theatre du Pif's, "Nocturne Vista," based on the writings of Franz Kafka. I was struck by particular moments or particular gestures in that performance: Kar Fei's entry as the Boss, Sean's transformation into the cockcroach; Bonni's swallowing gesture as a vulture. Those sudden moments of clarity: when an actor's presence leaps across the gap and sears a mark in you as an audience member. And I was much inspired by that. I thought, that's what I need to practice as a performer.

And as I rehearse, I realise that it has very much to do with the sincerity of performance. As I am in so many scenes, there are no "good nights" or "bad nights" really any more; because every night there will be a scene, or even a line, that surprises me. And so it's become a matter of keeping myself open to be surprised. Because there are so many ways in which a line can be true. If a scene needs to be a bluish colour there are the possibilities in the palette from ultramarine to slate blue-grey. Mmm – how fun.

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The Overcoat - Theatre du Pif
17-20 Jan, 2007: Fringe Club (HK) 8pm
8 -10 Feb, 2007: Drama Centre Black Box (Singapore), 8pm

After two and something months of puppet making, rehearsals, etc our show finally hit the road. Our first show was at Tze Wan Shan housing estate, between a shopping center and their football basketball pitches. Frankly, I was surprised at how magical the big puppets were to the children.

This show has a large audience participation component, in which the puppeteer team has 45 minutes to train a group of audience members in flag waving, a shield dance and puppet manipulation. So the bulk of my work in this show is less in performance and more in teaching the children or whoever shows up their moves.

In the end I got a strong sense that pull of this show is really not on the acting, singing or even the script. The crowd yesterday sat through basically two runs (dress and the actual performance) because they wanted to watch their child or neighbours in their community perform. And so kids tripped over their flags, the formations were a complete mess, but at the end of the day, none of that mattered. They were having fun.

Eleven more shows to go...

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我家有個大門神 "The Doorgods of my home"

(Sundays: 1pm audience participation, 3pm performance)
10/12/2006 葵芳邨羅馬廣場
17/12/2006 粉嶺華明邨露天劇場
07/01/2007 赤柱廣場
14/01/2007 香港文化中心廣場C區
21/01/2007 大埔中央廣場
28/01/2007 愛東邨露天廣場
25/02/2007 天頌苑露天廣場
11/02/2007 秀茂坪廣場
11/03/2007 西貢海濱公園
18/03/2007 沙田大會堂廣場
25/03/2007 屯門公園（屯門大會堂）

> more info on the shows