Stage actor Joey Leung Cho-yiu came to public attention in a one-man comedy, The Queer Show, which won him the best actor prize at the 2004/2005 Hong Kong Drama Awards, and went on to enjoy four successful runs. His flair for tackling taboo subjects earned him a nod from CNN Asia last year as one of 20 people to watch in Hong Kong. A graduate of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Leung started his stage career as a freelance actor, appearing in productions by groups such as Theatre du Pif and W Theatre. In 2004, he co-founded the Windmill Grass theatre company with fellow APA alumni Edmond Tong Chun-yip and Shaw Mei-kwan. The group has since become a force in local popular theatre with their lively productions, and work with pop stars such as Hins Cheung in a number of well-received musical dramas. The 34-year-old Leung can now be seen in a rerun of W Theatre's Love Dies Slowly, Naturally & Silently, in which he plays a gay graphic designer sharing a work space with four other freelancers. You have been freelancing since leaving the APA. Is your role in the new drama something you relate to? I'm not a freelancer any more, I have my own group, Windmill Grass. But the collaboration with W Theatre is a freelance job. I freelanced for five years after graduation, so I know the life and mentality well. The insecurity of being a freelancer can distort your values or kill your passion for your work. I took up jobs arbitrarily because I felt insecure. Sometimes, I thought, 'I wouldn't handle the play like that if I were the director. How could it be so boring?' But as an actor, all you can do is follow the director's instructions. I'm not the kind of person to challenge the director. I just try to help him achieve what he wants. I'll do my best even if I don't like the way the character is presented. Fortunately, I didn't have many of these experiences. I have met some outstanding and inspiring people who have boosted my passion for the stage. What was the worst situation you went through as a freelancer? I was once offered a role that paid HK$8,000, but required me to rehearse for six days a week for two months. With such an unreasonable offer, you end up skipping four out of every six rehearsals. You have to find other jobs to support yourself. People in the industry understand: this is how the game is played. But without time for rehearsals, people won't offer you bigger roles. You start to feel insignificant and you don't have a sense of belonging. Meanwhile, you may have three different plays to do, you may be teaching drama workshops in two schools and have a school tour to do on top of all that. That's what happened to me after my graduation. I didn't enjoy that time at all. I was so exhausted I could fall asleep at any moment. I trained myself to finish a lunch box in five minutes so I could have 55 minutes to take a nap during the one-hour break. It was crazy. Now I have my own theatre company, I'll share those experiences with young actors. And if we don't have the budget for a drama, we won't employ so many people. I'd rather give young actors better offers so they enjoy themselves and do a better job. When did you realise you had to make a change? After freelancing for about two years I lost my voice. I was teaching drama workshops in schools and preparing for three different plays at the same time, and I overused my voice. I couldn't do anything after that. I realised my life as an actor wouldn't last long if I neglected my body. Was setting up Windmill Grass a turning point in your career? It wasn't my idea to establish Windmill Grass. When we were studying at the APA, Edmond was already planning to set up a theatre company with Kwan and me. We are very close friends, and he thought I shouldn't push myself the way I was doing. He is very well organised, he takes care of almost everything in the group, from writing proposals and booking venues, to searching for a studio. He is like the CEO of Windmill Grass. I'm responsible for the creative part and Kwan focuses more on the drama workshops and training young actors. None of us are well-rounded theatre artists. For instance, we are not that great at writing scripts. But together, we form a very good team. What inspired you to be an actor? Originally, I hoped to study biology at university. Although I scored an A in biology, I failed chemistry. During that summer, a theatre group formed by some of my mum's friends was looking for a teenage boy to play a character in a drama and they asked me. After the performance, the director suggested that I enrol in the APA. When I got an offer from the APA, I thought, 'Why not trying something new'. That's how I started. You've played a series of gay characters in your career. What does that mean to you? There isn't just one type of gay man in the world. But gay men are stereotyped as acting camp and wearing pink. In fact, there are gay men everywhere but you can't tell from the way they look. I would like to present different gay characters. Love Dies Slowly, Naturally & Silently. Kwai Tsing Theatre, 8pm, till December 5, and 3pm, today, tomorrow and December 5. Bookings: 2734 900
