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Kevin Kwong

For a freelance actor, Lee Chun-chow is prolific. The past two years have seen him in stage productions big (Theatre du Pif's The Will to Build for last year's New Vision Arts Festival) and small (Peter Wesley-Smith's Ho Chi Minh in Hong Kong at the Fringe Club). 
He has also collaborated with choreographer Mui Cheuk-yin in Dancing Blue and independent dance company Y Space on its improvisation series, as well  as directing two critically acclaimed works, Wong Wing-sze's solo show My Grandmother's Funeral  and playwright Chong Mui-ngam's Murder in San Jose, the latter for this year's Hong Kong Arts Festival. 
On Thursday, Lee will appear in Jean Anouilh's Antigone, a new Theatre du Pif production directed by Jovanni Sy.  
'Life is very sweet as a freelancer,' says 51-year-old. 
It's the kind of life Lee never thought was possible seven years ago when he was mulling over his future. After devoting two decades of his life to the Chung Ying Theatre Company, the actor felt he had come to a dead end.
'What I was doing was no longer what I wanted to do,' say Lee who was the troupe's assistant artistic director at the time. 'I didn't see an exciting future working there.'
But the consequences of giving up a full-time job also weighed on his mind. If things didn't work out, he thought, the move would not only mark the end of his illustrious stage career (he was named best actor three times and best director twice by the Hong Kong Federation of Drama Societies) but also jeopardise his financial security.
Lee likens the dilemma to nibbling on a chicken bone: 'There are still bits of meat to pick at but it's totally unsatisfying, yet it feels like a waste to throw the piece away.'
However, after spending a day walking around The Peak contemplating his future, Lee concluded that 'happiness was far more important than money'.
So he left Chung Ying and never looked back.
'The best thing about freelancing is that I'm able to choose [projects],' says Lee. 'At Chung Ying I didn't have the freedom, or guts, to make choices. Now, I have nothing to lose. I can work with people I trust, sometimes without pay, but still do it because it is fun. 
'I enjoy the creative process the most, although how the work will eventually turn out is a  separate matter. But as an actor, I'm constantly exploring and  asking questions.'  
Lee's track record, however, has probably made him one of the most bankable names in the business. Stage actors and directors who have worked with him say he has a natural charisma that attracts the audience, while choreographers say he has a knack of expressing himself in body movement.
Theatre du Pif's  artistic director, Sean Curran,  says one reason Lee was chosen to play Creon, a despot, in Antigone, is that few other actors would be capable of carrying the challenging role.
'We need [Lee's] talent and experience as a professional actor,' says Curran.
'He's one of the best stage actors in Hong Kong, and with that talent he is dedicated. We have worked with [Lee] before and we enjoy working with him. He's a good collaborator, an ensemble actor, always gives ideas and who inspires other actors.'
The Scottish actor, who founded Theatre du Pif with partner Bonni Chan Lai-chu, adds that he has learned from Lee in rehearsals. 'He is always humble and professional. There is no magic formula, but he works hard as a craftsman. That's why he's so good.'
Lee says his latest stage role is relevant to today's society as it touches on the timeless theme  of power and how rulers  cling  onto it at all costs to exercise control and order. 
'The play is about conflict, that between an elderly ruler and a young girl and between reason and feelings of the heart,' he says.
Lee also has his own take on the role of Creon: 'He is a good politician and he would resolve issues through either force or compromise. He rather enjoys life, he loves the arts, has an appreciation for living, not power. Yet, circumstances have made him a despot and he is, in many ways, a very repressed character. 
'This is very interesting because his character is not one-dimensional. Despotism, for him, is a method, not an end in itself.' 
Lee did not set out to become an actor and was not professionally trained. He discovered his vocation almost by accident.  He left school in 1978 after completing Form Five and worked  in an electronics factory.  One day a fellow member of a choir in which he sang in Mong Kok asked him to take part in an amateur production staged by a Tsz Wan Shan  community theatre group.  He was smitten by acting and on opening night decided to make  it his vocation.
'I played an inquisitive prison warden and it was my first public performance. I had no fear at all standing in front of an audience. I knew what I wanted to do and had no idea why the others were so nervous,' Lee recalls.  
Being totally at home on stage also means Lee enjoys the challenges of experimental theatre.
'I like it because it is unpredictable. Of course, I do traditional dramas too and they are good for confidence building but there is no surprise,' he says.
What did take many by surprise was his solo performance in Ho Chi Minh in Hong Kong in which he delivered his lines in flawless English. The role  won him a best actor gong at the inaugural Hong Kong Theatre Libre Award this  year. Antigone, which also features  Chan, Curran, Joao Pamplona  from Portugal and Alexandre Cerda from France, will also be performed in English. 
'I am interested in English-language theatre. There are many good scripts around and we don't have to worry about doing the Chinese translation. It opens up a brand new world,' Lee says. 'But  I will have to work with people I know and trust.'
Mutual trust is the key to any collaboration, Lee says, because it allows  the actors space and freedom, and the chance to gain confidence in one another: 'If we can inspire one another, that chemistry helps boost creativity.'
In the coming year Lee will team up with playwright Chong on another project and Wong Wing-sze in a major production, a Hong Kong Arts Festival commission for next year titled The Truth About Lying. 
Asked if he ever wants to rejoin or lead a theatre company in the future, Lee says: 'Whenever I start to think about the amount of administrative work involved in running a company, my head just pauses right there.'
While not completely ruling out the possibility - 'I'd probably have to work on something small first before fully  committing' - Lee is happy where he is now.
 'I just want to continue what  I enjoy doing now, which is  acting and directing, and do  it well,' he says. 
Antigone, Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, TST; Jul 30 and Aug 1, 8pm; Aug 1, 3pm; Aug 2, 5pm, HK$120 and HK$180. Inquiries: 2268 7325 or 2904 2030



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