No-drama drama queen in pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty
Chong Mui-ngam admits she hasn't read Oscar Wilde's masterpiece, but says she understands the importance for a young playwright of being earnest. The smart, vivacious 27-year-old has already written 12 plays, many of which have won prizes. Alive in the Mortuary, her first play for the Chung Ying Theatre Company, earned Chong acclaim in local theatre circles after its premiere in 2002. It also won best script at the 12th Hong Kong Drama Awards, and was chosen as one of a handful to be toured overseas.
Chong, her cast and crew have just returned from a series of performances in Japan. She has just been awarded an Asian Cultural Council fellowship and will spend a year savouring New York's drama scene from October. 'I am happy to take a break,' she says. Chong has quickly learned the tough reality of working as an artist in Hong Kong. Young playwrights are lucky to make $10,000 a month if they don't take on part-time or teaching jobs, as Chong has. 'It would be just fine to write two to three scripts a year, but I wrote five last year, not wanting to miss the chance of working with different troupes,' she says. 'But it wasn't healthy.'
Chong says she's looking forward to her New York fellowship. 'I'll see shows, attend workshops and visit drama students there,' she says. 'But I most hope to see musicals. I want to see how they're done and ask myself if I can write one. Living in a foreign land will also allow me to reach out to different people, which is good for a playwright.'
Chong wrote and directed her first play in Form Four. But it was at Chinese University, while studying psychology, that she really became hooked on theatre, after attending film and theatre appreciation classes. When she graduated, she applied for a two-year high diploma course at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts' (HKAPA) School of Drama, majoring in playwriting. In 1999, Chong wrote After the Accident and submitted it to the Hong Kong Youth Literature Award. It was chosen as the first runner-up in the script-writing category.
At HKAPA, she learned the basics of playwriting. 'I once wrote a bad piece and was honestly criticised by my teacher and fellow students,' she says. 'I cried a great deal and then understood that you must be true to yourself when writing a play, but also be self-critical.' Chong says she's grateful to her teacher at the academy, director Lee Ming-sum.
'He let me know that playwriting isn't something you do sloppily, according to your whims,' she says. 'He's a perfectionist and has great enthusiasm for the theatre. He's always trying to improve himself. When I'm asked nowadays which is my masterpiece, I always say that my best play will be my next play. That's something I learned from him.'
After graduating from HKAPA, Chong worked for ATV and the Prospect Theatre Company, which performed her play Venezia Cafe of the Portland Street. Later, she became a member of the Chung Ying Theatre Company's creative team, a paid position aimed at developing young talent. Her contract with the company officially lasts until the end of this year, but she's been free to collaborate with seven or eight other groups.
Chong has a methodical, almost journalistic way of working out her scripts through interviews. For Alive in the Mortuary, which is about Medicins Sans Frontieres, Chong interviewed a number of its volunteers. 'Later, I turned to doctors, and then medical students,' she says. 'It was through talking with medical students, who still had passionate ideals about their studies, that I found my inspiration.' The play developed into a story about holding onto ideals, as opposed to a documentary-style depiction of the doctors' ordeals.
Chong says she's still searching for her own style. Her plays so far are relatively traditional and concerned largely with human relations. 'I have very good relationships with my family and want to extend that to my boyfriend, my friends and others,' she says. 'When I see other people having poor relationships with their families, I think that's the root of a lot of problems.' .
The playwright is frank about being less than impressed with Hong Kong's avant-garde theatre groups. 'Art is about refining daily life,' she says. 'You can use different styles for this aim, but you must be serious and thoughtful in all cases. Many local avant-garde performances just lack thoughtfulness.'
Chong says the stage offers a lot of scope for the imagination. 'I find writing dialogue very enjoyable. You can immerse yourself in one character after another,' she says. 'I want to bring out truth, goodness and beauty through my plays.'
