Hong Kong TAPS Perspectives 2023

HONG KONG TAPS PERSPECTIVES

ABOUT TAPS PERSPECTIVES TaPS Perspectives gives IB DP Theatre students the unique opportunity to work intensively with a series of theatre professionals, specialising in: Collaboratively creating original theatre Staging play texts Exploring world theatre traditions Performing theatre theory IB DP Theatre ISTA TaPS Perspectives provides students with an understanding of how the IB DP Theatre course syllabus is applied to current theatre practice. It's a launchpad for students’ explorations of theatre. Working with DP Theatre students from different schools broadens perspectives, forges friendships and enhances all learning.

ISTA specialises in global learning through theatre.

We are a UK based charity, founded in 1978 providing transformative learning experiences for educators and young people worldwide. We create communities of learning, working closely with over 240 member schools around the world and we are the International Bacclaureate’s exclusive global provider of teacher training for Diploma Theatre.

We believe in the unique power of theatre and the arts to connect, develop, transform and empower people to become active members and changemakers in their own communities and the world.

We use the ISTA Ensemble method, a collaborative approach to learning and community building and story based inquiry, using story as a way to understand the world and as a tool for change.

HONG KONG TAPS PERSPECTIVES Liane Campbell - ISTA Rep With my theatre education and business degrees in hand, I have had a fortunate life travelling the world juggling over three decade’s work in drama education, business development, advertising, and being a ‘creative’. My leadership skills of building synergistic teams has been fostered and rewarded with significant growth and success in these industries.

Passionate about the unique power of theatre and the arts to connect, to build shared understanding, celebrate diversity and empower people globally, I am aligned with ISTA’s mission to develop internationally minded, collaborative and culturally literate young people and educators.

I am honoured to be ISTA’s Interim Executive Director, as the ISTA board seeks an ED, then I will return to my role as vice-chair of the Board of Trustees. In these roles, I am excited to use my combination of business and theatre knowledge and skills to collaboratively contribute to ISTA’s future strategic growth and development.

WALDEINSAMKEIT (FOREST SOLITUDE): DEVISING A MODERN FOLKTALE Collaboratively creating original theatre Workshop leader: Terence Makapan Biography Terence Makapan was born in Cape Town where he has resided most of his life. He studied at the Waterfront Theatre College majoring in Drama and Musical Theatre and obtained a Licentiate in Speech and Drama through Trinity College, London. Makapan is a published playwright. His production (w)asem, which he co-wrote and starred in, was nominated for the Freshest Show of the Fest at the 2017 Cape Town Fringe Festival. The show won two Ovation Awards at the 2019 National Arts Festival in Makhanda, South Africa. His debut short film Leemtes & Leegheid (‘A void’), which he co-wrote, won 3 awards at the 2022 KykNet Silwerskerm Film Festival, one of which was for Best Short Film. It has since been screened at multiple international festivals, including the BAFTA qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival where it won the Artists' Best Film award. Terence hopes to have his own theatre school someday.

HONG KONG TAPS PERSPECTIVES Workshop overview In this workshop, participants will create their own folktale using movement and chorus work as a launching pad to explore possible narratives. The verbal component is one of the most crucial aspects of folktales, though the aim will be to create a 3-dimensional experience by incorporating physical elements as well as creating a soundscape using unconventional materials.

It will be a practical session with very little actually being written down. Participants will be encouraged to share folktales and stories from their own cultures. We will break down the similarities within some of the shared tales and try to find building blocks from there. They will be introduced to various exercises on how to create movement that compliments a narrative. The group must work collaboratively to create an engaging piece using all of the mentioned elements including the use of a soundscape/sound effects.

IB Diploma Perspectives Workshop leader: Nita Dewse

Biography I was born in Melbourne but have been teaching Theatre and English now for over 30 years in 6 different countries. I completed my MA at the Central School of Speech and Drama, specialising in the use of Dramatherapy in anger management programmes with violent offenders in prisons and probation. Now, I love seeing the potential in an idea, in an image and in a student come to life.

Drama and collaborating depend on this sway between pushing boundaries and following rules. I want students to understand the power of creativity that comes through play; playing games, playing with ideas and playing with their own limits.

Workshop overview This session will assist participants in framing their TaPS Perspectives experience so it relates to their DP Theatre course, their development as artists and as learners.

Participants will Reflect on their workshop experiences in relation to the IB DP theatre course Make connections between workshops and the IB DP theatre course Contextualise their workshop experiences in relation to the IB DP theatre course Consider their development as artists and learners to inform their learning in the IB DP theatre course

HONG KONG TAPS PERSPECTIVES INTRODUCTION TO THE TERZOPOULOS METHOD: THE ROAD TO CREATIVE FREEDOM Performing Theatre Theory Workshop leader: Reggie Yip About the company Studio Starlit is a unique and unconventional youth theatre production company dedicated to nurturing the talents of all young performers and public speakers. We are committed to building a platform where our students can express their thoughts and feelings creatively and confidently while cultivating a love of learning.

Biography Reggie Yip is a Hong Kong Chinese performer and creator with a background in Experimental and Physical Theatre and Terzopoulos Practitioner. She is the co-founder of the international all female experimental performance collective It’s Us: Ophelia and co-creator/performer of their debut online production So, Count Mine.

She has performed in international theatrical productions such as Secret Theatre Project (Hong Kong), FORE! (CNP/La Comédie de Saint-Étienne), A Nightwalk in a Chinese Garden (CNP/Los Angeles); she is an active voice actress, voicing Buttercup (The Powerpuff Girls Smash/SundayToz, INC) and Wing Diver (Earth Defense Force 5, Sandlot).

Workshop overview In this workshop we will be exploring the foundations of the Terzopoulos Method in order to develop an understanding and curiosity towards its fundamental ethos, beliefs and elements.

Participants will be introduced to the structure of the training method and will participate in physical exercises in order to allow for an embodied experience of the method’s targeted outcome, ‘creative freedom’, through its research by unlocking the ‘anthropological body’. Participants will also gain a foundational knowledge of the dramaturgical history of the Attis Theatre and its consequent history of the method and its relevance in the global theatre world today.

HONG KONG TAPS PERSPECTIVES APPRECIATION OF CHINESE OPERA: THROUGH PRACTISING ITS FORMULAIC MOVEMENT Exploring world theatre traditions & Teacher/chaperone specialist workshop Workshop leader: Musette Tsang

About the company Established in 2018, One Table Two Chairs Charitable Foundation (OTTC) is a nonprofit charity based in Hong Kong that inherits, conserves, promotes and develops Cantonese opera and its related folk arts. ‘One Table Two Chairs’ refers to the most basic setup for any traditional Chinese opera and best represents the art of Cantonese Opera. These simple props can transform into anything from a bridge to a castle, providing endless creative possibilities for artists to bring abstract and visual concepts to life on stage. Under the leadership of artistic director Professor Yuen Siu-fai, a veteran Cantonese opera artist, OTTC aspires to capture the essence of traditional Chinese operas and relate them to modern life. By producing works that are relevant to contemporary society and resonate with anyone new to the art form, we seek to appeal to young generations from all walks of life to broaden and deepen the audience base for Cantonese opera.

Biography Musette is currently the creative director of One Table Two Chairs Charitable Foundation and a part time tutor in the School of Chinese Opera at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) for the Acting course. She was also invited as a guest lecturer at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Baptist University.

Musette graduated from HKAPA with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) and is renowned for curating captivating cross disciplinary performances that perfectly fuse Cantonese opera and western drama, crafting works that honour tradition while mesmerising today's audiences. She is the creator of the English drama, Backstage, which showcases the artistry of Cantonese opera. Since its premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Backstage has been invited to perform in more than ten countries. Musette is committed to building a younger audience by establishing the connection between this centuries old art form and the younger generation.

HONG KONG TAPS PERSPECTIVES Workshop overview In this workshop, we will be learning Chinese opera theatre theoretically and practically. Participants will be introduced to the basic principles of Chinese opera through comparing them with different theatre theories. Participants will be able to explore the splendid world of traditional Chinese performing arts by immersing into the basic formulaic stage movements of Chinese opera including hand gestures, speed-walking and facial expressions, to experience and understand the aesthetics of Chinese opera. There will be a focus on how the percussion patterns accompany the performers’ first appearance on stage and stylized postures, exploring the musicality within Chinese opera. The workshop will enhance the participants’ knowledge of Chinese opera and appreciation of traditional art.

SCRIPT ANALYSIS: HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF A SCENE

Staging play texts Workshop leaders: Candice Moore & Jacqueline Gourlay Grant

About the company Sweet and Sour Productions Limited produces professional theatre and specialises in using drama to coach and develop performance in the following areas: Theatre Production, Theatre-in-Education, Voice Talent, Corporate Role play, Drama Coaching.

Candice Moore - Biography Candice Moore is director and actor from Edinburgh. She has a BA in Dramatic Studies from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and an MA in Theatre Directing with Merit from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London.

Directing credits include her adaptation of A Christmas Carol, Faith Healer for Theatre du Pif, Jay Christopher's Hong Kong Love Stories, The Elephant Song for Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts/Karamel Club, Four Assassins (adapted from the film) for Studio Strada and Glorious for Sweet and Sour Productions Ltd. She collaborated with The Secret Theatre Project as casting director for The Great Gatsby at The Peninsula Hong Kong and as casting director, co-director and actress for Code 2024 at Tai Kwun. Candice received HKELD awards for her productions including Best Actor

HONG KONG TAPS PERSPECTIVES in Macbeth, Best Director and Best Production (Non-Musical Category) for Doubt and Best Actress in Iron.

She is the Founder and Director of Sweet and Sour Productions Ltd. Candice is also a highly soughtafter voice artist for cartoons, documentaries, education, film, radio, TV commercials and a presenter on RTHK Radio 3.

Jacqueline Gourlay Grant -Biography Hailing from Scotland, Jacqueline Gourlay Grant studied voice, cello and piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly the RSAMD) and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In Hong Kong, she is a director, actress and singer as well as Head of Performing Arts at Kennedy School, ESF. She performs leading roles in theatrical productions and musicals in Hong Kong, including Mrs Birling in An Inspector Calls for The Hong Kong Players and Mama Rose in Gypsy for The Hong Kong Singers. For AFTEC she played the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz and a United Nations Lawyer in Horizontal Collaboration for Fire Exit/Traverse Theatre in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

For Sweet and Sour Productions Ltd she performed the roles of Fay in Iron (winning the HKELD award for Best Actress), Florence Foster Jenkins in Glorious, Witch 1 and the Porter in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, eleven characters in Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, the Three Ghosts in A Christmas Carol and recently Viola Wilde and Veronica Carmichael in the staged reading of a new play, Distressed Asset.

Jacqueline co-founded the ESF Primary Concert series with 800 young choristers performing in the Queen Elizabeth Stadium and conducted The Choir Of A Thousand Voices at the Hong Kong World Rugby Sevens.

Workshop overview In this workshop, participants will examine the case and the play.

Students will interrogate the script for its intended meaning, consisting of equal parts research, close reading of the text and guess work. Determining what the writer is trying to say, as well as the ways in which one might interpret the words to create an original and dynamic performance.

Participants will discuss and explore: How they would direct, stage and interpret Susan’s monologues.

HONG KONG TAPS PERSPECTIVES How they would direct and stage the scenes with the dead body and transition to scenes without it.

How they would direct, stage and interpret the game show scene.

How would they design the set (e.g. minimal or literal)?

Where would they stage the play (e.g. in a theatre space or a different space)?

Following the above, participants will engage in: Reading the script Textual analysis Assessing stage directions Finding the facts, asking the questions Focusing on their character Finding the beats in a script Determining their objective

THEATRE

HONG KONG TAPS PERSPECTIVES DISTRESSED ASSET - A STAGED READING Sweet and Sour Productions (Hong Kong) Distressed Asset, by Candice Moore, is inspired by the Nancy Kissel Milkshake Murder Case. Nancy Kissel murdered her banker husband, Robert Kissel, in Hong Kong in November 2003.

P A R A | | E L E - HANUMAN & I performed by Benjamin Tardif (Thailand) This solo performance, designed for a neophyte audience, is an incursion into the parallel universe of a Canadian dancer, Benjamin Tardif, where you can discover khon Thai classical masked dance through his personal journey of learning this ancestral art form and his designated character, Hanuman, the white monkey warrior. In order to highlight the recent recognition of khon to the UNESCO World Cultural Intangible Heritage while giving the chance to a new generation to become more familiar with one of the cultural pillars of Southeast Asia, Benjamin shares his passion and knowledge based on his experience as a khon professional dancer through the eyes of a foreigner. In a minimalist setting to free your imagination, the audience is first invited to follow the learning steps of khon as experienced by Benjamin. Thus, this introduction helps us to better understand the origins and the learning process before having the chance to embody one of the characters of the Ramakien. Then, we familiarize ourselves with the specific characteristics of the different roles in addition to dance movements and their meaning. Thereby, we understand the extend of khon dance vocabulary while observing its details and subtleties. Finally, the choreographed dance solos demonstrate different styles depending on the purpose or context of the story. In short, PARA||ELE is a piece that combines tradition and modernity in order to present an ancient classical and coded dance in a more accessible way for a new audience. As Benjamin had to not only learn khon, but also its traditions and beliefs, he is the perfect ambassador to introduce this mysterious universe and so, to enable the spectators to connect history, art, culture, language and literature. PARA||ELE is like a mirror; by understanding the other, it allows you to better understand your own roots.