Jim Chim Sui-man has been busy recently with his hilarious and inspiring one-man show, Man of la Tiger. He has also produced his latest children's show, Villain Village.
And recently he played the role of host for his mentor, Philippe Gaulier (left with Chim), a renowned acting teacher and director who taught in London and inspired him to open his school, Theatre Ensemble PIP School, which he established in 1993.
'PIP means Pleasure in Play and the idea of the school is to pass on what I was taught by Gaulier and develop it to its fullest based on this idea. He made a big impact on my career. The teaching principles of my theatre, my acting career and most of my work come from his teachings.' Gaulier was recently in Hong Kong for a week to host two intensive workshops, Le Jeu (joy and games) and Melodrama at the Academy for Performing Arts (APA).
'Different actors have different possibilities. What Gaulier does is help them discover the beauty within.'
Chim has invested his own money in PIP, but hopes the government will subsidise future workshops.
'Hong Kong needs to diversify. The APA is important in teaching acting, but instead of only one institute teaching one concept, other acting masters who can inspire are also needed. That's why we invited Gaulier, although Hong Kong people may know little about his work. As Hong Kong has been developing cultural arts for some time, different elements of art are required make us an artistic centre. I hope his visit can ignite the aspirations of today's young actors.'