FIVE MINUTES

Adele Brunner chats to the actor playing the title role in this year’s Hong Kong Players’ pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk. (Ohhhh, yes he is!)

I grew up in Jacksonburg, the smallest town in Ohio, in America’s Midwest. It has 61 people so it was a big adjustment moving first to New York and then coming to Hong Kong earlier this year. I moved here with my partner whose family lives here.

Going to New York was the first time I had left small-town life and been around so many different types of people. It was such a great experience and made me realise that the life I had been living wasn’t the only life available to me.

I studied performance and music theatre

and have always been passionate about acting. I think it’s because I love stories. Through the characters I play, I get to live other lives and have other perspectives without necessarily experiencing these things for myself.

I’m currently studying Mandarin at the

Chinese University. Before coming here, I knew absolutely no Chinese so the first semester was very hard. I’m now in my third semester and can hold a conversation, which my family and friends back home think is really cool.

I joined the Hong Kong Players to get back into a community of creative performers. I auditioned in early summer and I got the part of Jack. Since then, we’ve been rehearsing three times a week on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. I now know my character much better and I’m starting to tweak how I play him. We haven’t got long to go but the production is in a good place and I love being a part of this cast.

I have never been in a pantomime before or had any experience of one. I’ve had a crash course in panto traditions so I now know that the cast expects the audience to heckle with set lines and the audience expects to see certain characters and hear cheesy jokes and innuendo.

It’s fun to learn a new type of theatre that is so beloved to people and I feel honoured to

developing confident, self expressed and joyful performers!

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be a part of it. My UK friends are very excited that I’m in the lead role and that the panto is going ahead in Hong Kong despite Covid.

I get stage fright for sure but it happened much more when I was younger. When I was in the middle school choir and had my first solo, I stood up to sing and just shut down. I was so scared. As I’ve had more experience, I’ve realised being nervous is a part of performing and that it’s OK to feel this way. I also discovered that all actors get stage fright at some point in their career.

I learn my script by starting at the end of a chunk of it and working backwards. That way I always know what’s coming next and it gives me confidence.

When I’m not rehearsing or studying, I

enjoy hiking. I grew up in the countryside so I love the outdoors. Whenever I’m stressed, I head outside. I’m also trying to make it a habit to go and check out Hong Kong even if I’m really busy. With the city, mountains and beaches all intertwined, it’s a great place to explore.

Want to know what Jack and the

Beanstalk has in store for you? Let’s just say there are twists and you should expect the unexpected!

The Hong Kong Players’ production of Jack and the Beanstalk is taking place at various times from December 3 to 12 at the Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Rd, Wan Chai. Tickets from $295. hkplayers.com

Acting Tips from Seth Wagner

If you think you want to act, just do it. There are roles and stories for all types of people that need to be heard.

Preparation is key when going for an audition. You need to be comfortable and confident enough about what you’re going to perform that you can just get up and do it, almost without thinking.

Don’t be scared of the audience you’re auditioning for. They ultimately want you to do well.