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Kevin Kwong

A Hong Kong Professional Actor's Nightmare

Fringe Theatre, Hong Kong Fringe Club

Reviewed: Dec 29

Given that many who came to this performance were  from  the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (APA) or  friends of  director Wu Hoi-fai and actor Chiu Kin-tong, A Hong Kong Professional Actor's Nightmare was always going to be a  cliquey affair.

Created by  APA lecturer  Wu and APA graduate Chiu,  and co-written by Chiu and choreographer Sammi Woo,  this one-man show is peppered with APA/local theatre  in-jokes and references.

Still, the  bulk of the  show  is accessible and, at times, entertaining. Chiu plays himself as Ah Tong (right), an actor  who started  not in theatre but shopping malls selling credit cards with a fake smile.

His  story begins with a trip  to a fortune teller who warns  him against becoming an actor.  But Chiu ignores the  advice and gives up a  lucrative career as  a salesman to take up acting  and teaching.

As he makes his way to a parent-child acting workshop with a dodgy tummy one morning, he recounts his  career as a professional actor through a series of flashbacks, including  dealing with difficult parents, the generation gap, and  a sweet story about an elderly woman who attended one of his acting classes.

Running at almost two hours, with a short break,  the show  needs a strong script and actor  to keep it afloat.  Although Chiu's acting - especially his miming  - is sound, his delivery is patchy. And the story - especially his quest to find a toilet inside a kindergarten - is overstretched.

Wu sets out to offer his audience a glimpse into the life of a local actor and the dilemmas he faces. The choice of staging   at the Fringe is apt because its appeal doesn't really go beyond  a small venue.



A Hong Kong Professional Actor's Nightmare