Former schoolteacher Matthew Gregory followed his love for drama and went out on a limb to set up a youth theatre company
The entertainment industry offers many popular ways of making a living, which probably explains why it is also one of the most difficult. Gaining a foothold in the industry is not easy, so it is important to maximise your chances of success through good planning, hard work, tenacity, plenty of passion for the performing arts and a little luck.
Matthew Gregory, founder and managing director of Faust International Youth Theatre, got off to a good start, but not without hiccups. Despite the fact that music was his early passion as a chorister at York Minster Cathedral in Britain, he realised that his interests were veering towards the stage, and decided to do a degree in English and Theatre Studies at Warwick University. He then did a postgraduate education certificate in English and Drama at Cambridge University.
Fate also played a role. Before starting at university he took a gap year teaching drama, sports and music at a preparatory school in Sussex. There were many Hong Kong children boarding there - his first contact with the city that would later become his home. He also visited Hong Kong as part of a round-the-world tour while at university, making further connections.
After graduating he was offered a job in Hong Kong by Chatteris Educational Foundation to help recruit gap-year English teachers and place them in local secondary schools. He arrived in Hong Kong in 1996 and began working for Chatteris, but soon found he missed the theatre.
'During my second year here I was getting itchy feet. I started to miss the drama and theatre side of my training. So I decided to go out on a limb and set up a theatre company for children called Faust International Youth Theatre in 1999,' he said.