Spotlight on YAFies: Edwin Chuk

Emerging Actor/ Assistant Director of Standard Chartered Arts in the Park 2021 Storytelling Theatre "Peter Pan"

What made you want to be an actor?
I think my desire to be on stage was driven by being young and naive. I’d seen a performance at high school and thought I could do it better, so I put myself forward as an actor the next year. Now I know I have lots to learn!

The first moment I really realised I wanted to be an actor was during systematic physical-theatre training at college. As actors we’re blessed with the chance of experiencing different lives, the world, even our own lives in different ways – this experience was the catalyst for my path towards theatre and drama.

What is the biggest challenge you face as an emerging actor?
The biggest challenge is to let others know who I am as an emerging actor, especially because I didn’t graduate from the local drama school. Sometimes we can get lost if our focus becomes pleasing different companies or directors… we can forget our true goals and values in the pursuit of being an actor.

You participated in last year’s “Emerging Artist Mentorship Programme: Theatre”, what was your main takeaway?
Definitely getting to know new actors from all walks of life – local fresh graduates, Hongkongers who’d lived overseas, those planning to go abroad. Creating an original piece together during the three-week workshop, we were able to observe how we worked and learned together, it was a really special opportunity.

What was your most unforgettable performance experience?
In 2020, the theatre company I co-founded, Feast on Waste Land, participated in the Adelaide Fringe. The moving-in and performance schedule for the Fringe Festival was really tight, as there were at least three or four productions happening every night, including in our venue. An hour before our show began, there was a circuit failure in the venue, and even worse, the whole sound system, lighting system and projection system for the English translation of the script shut down. Because of a miscommunication, the audience entered before the problem had been sorted out and we had to translate the original Cantonese lines into English simultaneously during our performance so they could understand.

​This was definitely an exceptional and valuable experience, with actors and musicians intensely focused on the performance at the same time as being intensely connected to the audience.

Do you have any special methods to memorise the monologues?
If I have enough time, I like to write out the monologues. Through the process of writing, I can think about the meaning behind the words and the mindset of the playwright, and transform the lines into texts – letters, notes and so on – written by the characters.

Another thing I do is to memorise the text with my body. Before the rehearsals, I don’t just memorise the lines, I try to add in movements that are not necessarily related to try and discover other possibilities through the body, or breathing, or the imagination. It also helps avoid making the lines feel predictable. The more you can feel, the easier it is to memorise the lines.

Do you have any advice for other young people who are also passionate about acting?
My advice would be “Don’t rush”. Every actor, every person, has their own unique pacing and experience. It’s better to go slowly than lose track of what’s important pursuing opportunities, fame or money. Before being a good actor, let’s be good people.

Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time?
I don’t want to become someone I can’t respect. I want to uphold my values and keep my independence as an individual, on stage and in life.

Who is your favourite artist and why?
Ng Wai-shek, my teacher. He always encouraged and inspired me as an actor, even when I doubted myself and wanted to give up. In his class, he once said, “We are the most important work of art in our lives”. He lives his life the way that he taught us.