No one could accuse Giles Burton of playing it safe. Not content with bringing to Hong Kong's unsuspecting stages a rap version of The Canterbury Tales and a play about Adolf Hitler that's as critical of the audience as it is of the protagonist, his next project is a one-woman show - and the woman is naked.
The play is Human Fruit Bowl, and it's fairly representative of the sort of work that appeals to Burton's theatre company, Microfest. Launched in 2009 with a festival of small, independent productions, Microfest is Hong Kong's most boundary-pushing company, specialising in new, thought-provoking, often genre-defying works imported from overseas, plus equally innovative productions Burton directs.
He launched Microfest with a bang 'because I wanted to create a buzz about it. Bringing in individual shows is great, but one of the really good things about a festival is that you can see several plays in the same day. It's an opportunity to see how much variance and diversity you can create,' he says.
It's a tricky one to pull off, trying to convince Hong Kong's theatre-goers that small, independent, intentionally minimalist shows can be of professional standard - particularly in a city where there's a fair bit of am-dram masquerading as professional theatre. 'It's a problem,' Burton acknowledges, 'but only until people see the work. In Hong Kong, there's sometimes an attitude that bigger is better, that if you spend more money it's better. So we need to produce shows that will grab people's attention and make them think.'
Born in Britain, Burton has lived in Hong Kong for five years, moving to the city when his wife, who's also involved with Microfest as a producer, was offered a teaching job here. He has decades of theatrical experience, working in technical roles and as a stage manager before progressing to directing, mostly in British repertory theatre.
Burton says his multifaceted background is one of the reasons he can put on small shows, because it means he can work with a small crew. The only theatrical role he hasn't filled regularly is that of actor. 'I've tried it, but I don't enjoy it - and I'm not very good at it.'