With baby-faced features and a petite frame, Karen Wang Kit-ching seems a little doll-like. But there's nothing delicate about her passion and determination to succeed as a Cantonese opera performer. A graduating student at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (APA), she still smiles when describing the many bruises and sprains that she has endured as part of the gruelling training.
'Back splits were the most painful when I first started because it's like having your body folded up, literally. I think everyone on the floor could hear me wailing at the time,' she says with a laugh.
Wang's spirits are running high as she and other young students will perform Cantonese opera excerpts and a full-length production of the classic The Lotus Lantern at the Sunbeam Theatre in North Point. It's the students' second appearance at the city's only venue dedicated to the art, and such opportunities are hard to come by, says APA programme co-ordinator Boaz Chow Sze-sum. 'It's a commercial venue so dates can be hard to book. Public funding helps a lot. It's also special because the theatre is about to close [early next year],' says Chow.
Playing to an audience of knowledgeable theatre-goers is a thrill for students such as Vanessa Tsang Ho-chi. 'I am a little nervous, though. It's a big and professional theatre and we're facing a more demanding audience,' says Tsang.
Wang, 28, and Tsang, 21, are keen to pursue full-time careers in Cantonese opera after they graduate in June, but it will be a tough road ahead. Although the APA prospectus says graduates from its Cantonese opera programme are almost certain to secure jobs because of the frequency of performances - it estimates about 1,500 every year - seasoned performers reveal a far less rosy picture.
'It's a strange business,' says Leung Hon-wai, co-founder of the Cantonese Opera Academy of Hong Kong. 'Many old masters are too busy managing their own troupes or think young talents don't suit their needs,' he says. 'They are only interested in themselves and it's not their priority to nurture younger performers.' Another insider says it's 'painful' to watch many passionate people drop out from dejection after years of grind without reward.