Theatre show a whole lot of love
Windmill Grass Theatre's founders wear their hearts on their sleeves and it's a winning strategy, writes Kevin Kwong
Edmond Tong Chun-yip, Shaw Mei-kwan and Joey Leung Cho-yiu of Windmill Grass Theatre talk about love a lot. Of their nine-year-old company's artistic direction, Leung says: "We stage works that are filled with love and we want to choose plays that carry a positive message about love."
Adds Tong: "When we set up Windmill Grass, we just wanted to do what we love most, which is acting."
Even their Cantonese stage adaptations are full of love: Joe DiPietro's I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change; Ryan Cunningham and Joshua Salzman's I Love You Because; and Christopher Hampton's Treats (its Chinese name translates as "I'm no easy love"). Its upcoming production, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune by Terrence McNally, is a romantic comedy.
While the theme of love helps sell tickets, especially to their targeted audience aged between 20 and 35, it translates less well in arts funding applications. That may explain why the trio have, until last year, been running their company without any government subsidies.
Shaw, who graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (APA) in 1999, says: "We've been on our own for many years, saving from one show in order to finance the next."
About five years ago, they applied for an administrative grant from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (ADC) to cope with the increasing workload of the troupe as their productions became more and more popular. But their application was unsuccessful.