THREE LITTLE MEN - Brave Heart Theatre DEC'14

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THREE LITTLE MEN by Wing Man Lam

THREE MEN IN ONE ROOM EACH WONDERING WHY THE HELL THEY’RE THERE – AND WHO THE HELL THEY ARE…


AUTHOR’S NOTE:

DIRECTOR’S NOTE:

The outline structure of Three Little Men is inspired by Three Tall Women - three characters, at three different stages of life, in the same room. A is sickness-ridden elderly, B is the carer and C is someone pertinent to the law. In Albee’s play, there is an abrupt change in character identity between Act 1 and 2 and it is not evident until Act 2 that the three characters are the same person at different stages of the same life. In my play, the characters maintain the same identity throughout and spend the length of the play discovering their identity. Critics believe Albee’s play is an exploration of his foster mother, with whom he had a difficult relationship. In that sense, I would say his play is about the character of this woman with her colorful but not necessarily amiable personality. My play is about the journey of discovery and personal evolution each of us makes. I wrote it in the hope of inviting the audience to reflect on their own personal evolution. They are completely different plays but, if there was no Three Tall Women, there’d be no Three Little Men.

There’s a danger here of over-gushing but here goes. Wing wrote THREE LITTLE MEN in English after graduating from the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York (so there’s a very strong American rhythm to the dialogue) but her first language is Cantonese. Every actor I showed the script has been wowed by the dialogue. To me, it’s amazing that she can write so fluently and funnily in a second language – and so perceptively about men when she’s a woman. But maybe it helps her to have that distance. Like Beckett writing in French… I’ve been producing new work for Not So Loud and now for Brave Heart since the 1990s. The great thing about working with a local author is that you can clarify issues as you go along and (usually) refine the script for the better in rehearsal. The great thing about working with Wing – aside from her having written a great script – is that she understands, as a trained actor, the dramatic process. The cast and creative team has thereby felt liberated and affirmed to do our best by her. We trust our best will suffice to entertain and edify you here at Premium Sofa Club for this world premiere production.

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CREDIT LIST

CAST – A : Erik Floyd B: Andy Chworowsky C: Harry Oram
 SCRIPT – Wing Man Lam DIRECTOR – Tom Hope PRODUCTION – Emillie Chiu & Mary Jane Alejo PHOTOGRAPHY – Ines Laimins

With special thanks to the following: Scapa Scandia Sinclair CommunicaFons Premium Sofa Club management Hugh Chinnick of Pacific LighFng

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BIOGRAPHY Andy Choworowsky

Wing Man Lam
 Writer

Apart from occasional breaks to run restaurants, Andy has been a professional actor in Hong Kong since 1982, when he joined the storied group Actor's Rep. "Three Little Men" is his first production with Brave Heart, and his second with Not So Loud, having played Iago in Shakespeare's "Othello" a few years ago. Movie credits include "Off Limits" with Willem Dafoe and "Shanghai Surprise" with Madonna and Sean Penn. His nearly immortal lines "You guys are dicks for going to Duc Pho" and "It's in the stern, sir" were both relegated to the respective cutting room floors of said films. If you search YouTube hard you can also see him being beaten up in a number of Hong Kong ninja and/or gangster movies from the eighties. To support his theatre habit, Andy coaches speech and presentation skills with Black Isle Group and is a much sought-after event emcee.

Wing Man Lam is a local writer and actor. She was trained in acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film institute in New York. She prides herself on being a one-time Instagram sensation for her portrayal of a very creepy broken rag doll in Ocean Park’s Halloween Bash in 2013. She is currently studying how to write prose ‘properly’ with City University’s MFA program for creative writing.

Tom Hope
 Director

Harry Oram It has been over a year since Harry has been involved in a play. He had told Tom Hope, if the play was good, the timing was right and he got his own trailer fitted with a widescreen TV, he would be in. Along came Three Little Men.

Tom has written, directed, produced and acted in Hong Kong theatrical productions since 1991 when he co-founded the Not So Loud Theatre Company while working as a lawyer here. Now in its 21st year, Not So Loud continues to produce English language drama addressing Hong Kong issues in a dramatic way. Meantime, Tom retired from the law to work at The Old Vic in London (2003-6), produced two professional London shows (The Mouse Queen and Slippery Mountain 2007-8) before returning to Hong Kong in 2009 to pursue his dream of founding an English language professional repertory theatre company in the territory.

Harry has been a big supporter of the concept of BraveHeart Theatre. HK deserves a permanent English language theatre especially one that fosters new writing. Harry is particularly proud that the author, Wing Man Lam is his coalumnus from the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York. He is delighted to be a part of this world premiere. Harry, however, is still waiting on his promised trailer and widescreen TV...

Erik H. Floyd Three Little Men is Erik’s first starring role since he performed as the Chorus in a school production at age 12. Returning to the stage after fifty years, Erik is grateful for the opportunity to test the ability of his mature brain to remember his lines, and to perform in character across a broad range that includes both doddering old man and healthy free spirit. Eager to build on the TLM experience, he is confronted with the reality that at his age directors may pigeonhole him into roles as an old dying guy. Life is a journey, always full of new possibilities, and he looks forward to turning back the clock and playing younger versions of himself in future productions.

Emillie Chiu
 Technical & Creative Director

A Fine Arts graduate (BA hons) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2013) then further studied Stage Production and Sound Design in The University of Virginia, Emillie has exhibited her fabric sculptures and related works in spaces around Hong Kong whilst freelancing on numerous theatre, filming and multi-media projects in art direction and set/costume designs. Further info: http://emilliechiu.weebly.com/

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