Taiwanese actor Joseph Chang Hsiao-chuan was put to the test when he was asked to do a dance routine in Edward Lam Yik-wah's latest drama What is Man?
'It's something I didn't believe I could accomplish. It was extremely difficult for me because I don't know how to dance at all,' says the 24-year-old who describes the experience as 'special, thrilling and fun, but terrifying'.
However, after hours of rehearsal and with constant encouragement from director Lam, he grew more confident and the Hong Kong audience will be able to check out his effort in the sell-out show, which opens at the Kwai Tsing Theatre later this week.
Chang is among nine male Taiwanese actors touring with the production that has just had its second run in Taipei. The piece, inspired by the Chinese literary classic Water Margin, was first staged in 2006.
Instead of retelling the folk tale of 108 outlaws during the mid Song dynasty - the most famous being Wu Song slaying a tiger with his bare hands - Lam is more interested in exploring the concepts of desires, weaknesses and constraints of men in modern Chinese society.
The production is part of his 'great Chinese classics series' which also includes reinterpreting Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber.