| Out on the edge | ||
|
The street performances of a theatre troupe have divided audiences Lau Kit-wai ****** Love it or loathe it, drama troupe FM Theatre Power (FMTP) tends to provoke intense reactions. So much so that 20,000 people signed up with a Facebook group formed last month to oppose its regular street performances in a busy pedestrianised part of Mong Kok.
And when founder Banky Yeung Ping-kei held a forum at the troupe’s regular spot on Sai Yeung Choi Street to address criticisms, he found himself mobbed by 60 people – all dressed in black, at the behest of the troupe’s online detractors. The Sunday afternoon session drew a lively crowd, including community activists, passers-by and other street performers. A former member of the Facebook group calling itself Kick FMTP out of Mong Kok, 15-year-old Ricky Law Lik-chi says he’s against Yeung and his crew because "their performance takes up too much space and they’re selling T-shirts on the street, which is illegal". Yeung wonders if such censorious comments reflect an increasingly conservative streak in Hong Kong society. After all, street theatre is common in many countries, despite its rarity in Hong Kong, he says. Set up eight years ago, FMTP seems to court controversy. Hi Education, a swingeing attack on high-pressure local schooling that premiered in 2003, infuriated educators and many condemned the play as crude, sensationalist and manipulative. Two years later, Sanrio, the company behind the Hello Kitty products, threatened to sue the troupe for using the cartoon cat character as a prop in and to promote Kitty Hunter, a production about a young girl’s love life. Yet FMTP commands a strong following among young people, its performances regularly drawing sell-out crowds. Kitty Hunter has been reprised 11 times and Hi Education enjoyed a seventh run recently. The troupe is also presenting Beyond the Horizon, a tribute to Beyond’s late frontman, Koma Wong Ka-kui, over two weekends at the Cultural Centre this month. The production has been seen by more 10,000 people since it was first staged five years ago. Chan Ching-ki, a 20-year-old university student who caught a performance last week, says FMTP has achieved a lot for a small group. "I appreciate their persistence in pursuing their ideals and they tackle a variety of subjects that are meaningful to us," she says. Their plays and roadside skits have also found a fan in high school student Ip Ka-man, who describes the group as inspiring. "I was attracted by their street performances a few months ago. Then I went to their stage show Dot Ma Ma Fa Fa [a play about family] and it struck a chord, reminding me about the importance of family and how I had mistreated my parents before," says the 17-year-old. Yeung, who studied scriptwriting at the Academy for Performing Arts, attributes the troupe’s popularity to its ability to tap into the frustrations of young people at a time of growing discontent with the government and rising youth unemployment. "Two things happened in 2003 that drew [performers to FMTP]: the Sars outbreak and the July 1 protest march. Sars made us realised that anything could happen tomorrow and the march taught us if we took action now we could gather a group of people to change things in society," he says. FMTP is built on the notion of theatre as a tool for promoting social change. Its young performers, who create each show or skit through a process of collaborative improvisation, are as keen to seize the platform to make a social statement as an artistic one. "We want to show that there are no boundaries in theatre and in life," says Fung Sai-kuen, 25, who quit his job in youth outreach to join the troupe full time three years ago. "We want to show that there’s more than one way out in life and we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be bound by one criterion." But shopper Ivy Chung Nga-yi is unimpressed. "I don’t see the point [of the skits]. I once watched their street performance for five minutes, but still had no idea what was going on; the place was too crowded, hot and noisy," says Chung, 24. "Maybe what they’re doing is art, but it’s not my cup of tea and they’re doing it in the wrong places." The troupe doesn’t receive public funding or commercial sponsorship, so it relies on a tight-knit circle of volunteers, mainly drama-loving students and recent graduates. "We don’t do this for money," says Fung. "Even when we earn money by doing freelance work such as holding drama workshops in schools or social centres, we give the money to the troupe." "It’s very important for us to make sure FMTP continues," says Yuko Chan Yu-kwan, 20, who helps design T-shirts for the troupe. A computer programming and media graduate from City University, she plans to help out in the troupe instead of looking for a job. "[FMTP] is about a group of young people willing to say something and do something when most people are being idle or driven by self-interest," she says. Last month, the troupe opened a small shop in Mong Kok to sell T-shirts with rebellious slogans and designs by its young volunteers. Lai says the venture, which may provide them with a stable source of income, is another way to spread its ideals, and that a T-shirt can be a weapon to fight anything from fast-food culture to capitalism. But many arts critics dismiss FMTP productions as shoddy work and accuse Yeung of promoting himself as a cult figure and exploiting the idealism of his young actors. "Yeung’s approach is like brainwashing students," says Tang Ching-kin, an editor at youth literary magazine Fleurs des Lettres. "The way he recruits young people as performers gives the impression that he is provoking them to lash out against the education system, their parents and capitalism, or whatever authority without giving serious thought to the issues." Hostility to FMTP may arise partly because some don’t know what to make of it. "Hong Kong theatre is either experimental or mainstream. But although Yeung graduated from the Academy for Performing Arts, what he does is people’s theatre, which is the third and new way," says culture commentator Shiu Ka-chun. "To Yeung, there are no boundaries for performances, which can take place anywhere – on the streets, in the MTR or in schools." FMTP has won over youngsters but lost out in theatre circles, says Shiu. "Their audience isn’t the regular theatre-goer, but young people such as secondary school students. It’s a road no one has travelled before." Former FMTP member Chloe Tsui Yuet-ling acknowledges that some actors can go too far in their street skits. "It was as if they wanted to challenge people," says Tsui, now a freelance performer. "They didn’t care whether they were disturbing pedestrians and their attitude was that no one had the right to interfere with their creative freedom." Tsui left in 2004 because she felt uncomfortable with the way members adopted a church-like emphasis on fellowship in the troupe. "I just don’t feel that [a drama group] should be like that," says Tsui, noting that some actors even left home to move into the troupe’s studio in Tai Kok Tsui. "But it’s not entirely Banky’s fault that he is labelled a cult leader. Everyone in the troupe worships him. When I was at university, some classmates became fans after watching his street shows. I guess to students who know little about drama, Banky – who knows all sorts of theories of drama and stage – must seem very cool." Yeung and his followers remain defiant about their provocative approach, adding that controversy helps stir debate on often neglected issues. Mo Lai Yan-chi, a cinema and TV graduate who joined the troupe full time three years ago, says the diversity of responses they provoke means they’re breaking new ground. "If everyone in the world loved us, then we should really ask whether we’re doing the right thing. Stirring up controversy and making noise is right because we’re heading in this direction," says Lai, 26. "For example, some people think street performances debase the art. People here often have the notion that only beggars will perform on streets. Maybe people rarely come across street drama, so they think we are bizarre. But that’s good because through that we can provoke discussion and people can rethink what public space and art is." Activist and playwright Gus Mok Chiu-yu reckons the troupe draws controversy because it touches on many fundamental issues. That they can restage their productions time and again despite being panned by some critics shows they’re a creative and cultural force, he says. "Their plays involve young people who aren’t trained in performing arts, so it’s natural that their productions aren’t very mature in many ways," says Mok. "But just because their acting isn’t as good as veteran actors such as Chung King-fai, does that mean their plays are worthless? The most important thing is that their choice of subject is not irrelevant." | ||
