Jessie Chung Ching-sze was heading nowhere when a submission deadline for her new work The Next Stop is ... Waiting loomed close last summer. As for the two characters in the play, the ending just wasn't in sight.
'I knew I'd reached a point in the story where I had to stop but didn't quite know how,' says the 32-year-old playwright. 'I came up with at least three endings before quickly choosing one for submission.' But that wasn't the end of it.
The Next Stop is.... Waiting was part of last year's scriptwriting project Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in Theatre organised by Prospects Theatre, Theatre Ensemble and the Hong Kong Arts Centre. The work will be staged by Prospects Theatre at Sha Tin Town Hall this month before moving to Tuen Mun Town Hall.
The play had a premiere of sorts in a small theatre last July while Chung was still working on it - and still not happy with how it finished. While discussing the script with Prospects Theatre's artistic director, Paul Poon Wai-sum, it finally clicked, Chung says. She had her ending.
'It took me about 18 months to reach the end of that story,' she says. 'But it did happen - finally. Now, I think it brings out the message I want to convey very well.'
Directed by Shaw Mei-kwan of Windmill Grass Theatre, with the two roles filled by Wong Wing-sze and Amanda Leung Pui-yee, the existentialist play delves into the psyche of two different characters who confront the same situation.