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Kevin Kwong

Stage actress-director Olivia Yan Wing-pui looks frazzled. 'Sorry, sorry,' she says, apologising profusely for her lateness. 'I came straight from a rehearsal ... it was wrenching.'
The scene the 42-year-old has been working on revolves around a couple approaching the end of their relationship. 'The woman one day finds herself defying gravity, just like those floating figures in [Marc] Chagall's paintings,' says Yan. 
'Each day she elevates a little higher and the man has to tie her down with a piece of rock. The terrible thing is that the woman begins to enjoy the sensation of floating and freedom. In the end, the man decides to release her into the sky. The story is about letting go.'
This emotionally intense vignette comes from Yan's latest show, Viva Odyssey, a sci-fi fantasy that looks at human existence and  asks: 'Why are we here? What is life?'
The artist says she's always been obsessed with these philosophical questions; she used to discuss them with her bemused school friends.
'This obsession comes from my love for life and fear of death. I love listening to the sound of my daughter's heartbeats and watching people breathe,' says the mother of one. 'I'm constantly exploring the meaning of our existence.'
This search has been evident in her work over the past five years, including her solo show You Yuan, Moon 7 1/2 and Coming Home. Viva Odyssey, which also features singer-songwriter Wong Jing, sets out to look at life from an alien's perspective. 
Like Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Little Prince, a work that Yan loves, it tells of an extraterrestrial drifting from one world to another after its own planet is destroyed, meeting a host of unusual characters along the way, including an ambitious queen who is never satisfied, a pair of cloned pandas and a dog suffering a midlife crisis.
To research for the space-travelling part of the show, Yan - who is also a co-founder and artistic director of Pip Theatre (formerly Theatre Ensemble) - read up on literature about the universe, including a Chinese translation of astronomer Carl Sagan's Cosmos.  'If I'm going to talk about the universe, I thought I'd better learn more about it,' says the artist, 'and it's such a fascinating subject! We are all so small in the greater scheme of things.' 
Yan adds that it is interesting to learn about  black holes, the cosmic spectrum  and wormholes. 'But no, this is not a Space Museum show,' she quips. 
Viva Odyssey looks at the world from a 'bird's-eye view', Yan explains, and life looks different seen from above. There is no one single approach to living our lives, she says.
Having Wong, who is both the composer and the only other performer in the show, helps inject new energy into her creative process. 
The 28-year-old, who studied fashion design at London's Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design and co-founded the Daydream Nation label with  his sister Kay in 2006, has designed stage sets and is a keen theatregoer. 
'He is an important element in this show and there is great creative chemistry between us,' says Yan. 
The production is the first from her new venture O Theatre Workshop - 'O as in 'Oh!'' she says - which is part of Pip Theatre. While Pip is about 'pleasure, imagination and play', the new, smaller outfit sets out to 'wow' the audience with a more cerebral approach to theatre.
It will also further distinguish her work from that of her partner, funnyman Jim Chim Sui-man, whose comedies target the mainstream audience. 'I was recently asked whether my work is for a smaller audience ... I don't think so,' says Yan. 'I think there is quite a large audience out there for more serious works, I just need to seek them out.'
She says her artistic vision has matured and become more focused in the past five years,  both as a director  and a performer. 'I am more certain about what I want to express,' she says, 'which is my thoughts about life ... and death.'
You Yuan - which was inspired by the death of her mentor, Singaporean playwright Kuo Pao Kun  in 2002 and premiered in Hong Kong and Taiwan in 2006 - is a poetic take on the circle of a human life through text, video and the metaphoric four seasons. The original piece is written from a woman's point of view.  'I used to love doing theatre because it was a  boost for the ego, but today my focus is less on myself and more on sharing my work with the audience,' says Yan, who attributes that selflessness partly to motherhood - her daughter, Jolie, is now seven, and an important part of her life. 'It's no longer just about me.' 
The director says she wants to reach deep into her audience, both emotionally and intellectually. 'So it's okay if they walk away from the theatre in silence, engrossed in their own thoughts.'
One of the stories in Viva Odyssey is about a queen who  wants to be king. 'She goes on and on and on about things she doesn't possess, all the while not appreciating what she has,' says Yan. 'That was me in the past. Now, I treasure what I have and want to share with others. 
'After all, theatre is not just about the craft of directing or acting but being able to communicate and connect with the audience.'  
Viva Odyssey,  Fri to Dec 19, 7.30pm, Shouson Theatre, HK Arts Centre, HK$190, HK$280. Inquiries: 2294 8004



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