"One Person, One Story" is a form of improvisational theatre originating from the United States, in which a "navigator" will host, invite the audience to tell their personal experiences, and then improvise by other performers using physical movements, music, drama, etc. deduction.
The "Er Theatre", composed of students from the Faculty of Arts of Hong Kong Baptist University, the visually impaired and the hearing-impaired in the community, was held in the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre in the form of "one person, one story" earlier. activities to communicate with the audience.
Although people seem to be separated by an invisible wall during the epidemic, the crew hopes that this kind of community art can become a platform to connect and show communion; in the era of "isolation" under the epidemic, the public can still see each other and the walls With you and me.
The troupe is composed of 36 able-bodied and disabled people and improvises after listening to the audience's stories
Established in 2020, "Er Theatre" is composed of 9 hearing-impaired people, 10 visually-impaired people and 17 HKBU students. In the past two years, they have been guided by veteran theatre actress Ng Yee-ki, and have undergone intensive training to learn the basics of one-person-one-story theatre. Performance forms and techniques to experience the value of this art of improvisation.
"Er" means "you". In order to share the learning results with the public, the crew will hold an event called "Er by the Wall" at the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre on the 3rd and 4th of this month, in conjunction with the Hong Kong Arts and Crafts Association. , invites the audience to share their own stories, which are then improvised by program members.
In order to achieve artistic harmony, members posted guide lines on the ground during rehearsal, allowing visually impaired members to use their feet to identify the scope and direction of the performance, and members often used body language to communicate with hearing-impaired members.
Visually Impaired Elders Want Performances to Improve Memory and Train Listening Skills
"Preserved Egg", who is in his 70s, is one of the members of the crew.
He lost his sight in a traffic accident more than 50 years ago. He worked as a telephone operator, massage therapist, etc. After retirement, he participated in art activities for the disabled from time to time.
I recognized this theater project a year ago and signed up to participate.
He believes that the performance of one person, one story theatre can improve the memory of the elderly and train the listening ability of the visually impaired. He also points out that he is happy to see the audience open up and share their thoughts with them. For example, someone shared that his grandfather had cancer and hoped to buy time to shoot graduation. phase; some people share the sour and sweet with the opposite sex for many years and so on.
In addition to physical movements and other methods, Preserved Dan will also improvise poems for the audience, and his literary talent is deeply appreciated by the crew.
Zhu Jingshan, a recent graduate of HKBU's Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature and Bachelor of Education in English Teaching, was still a student when she joined the project. She was included in the deaf group in the basic training. It’s just like they couldn’t get the verse.” She also talked to the deaf person in the background without paying attention when she was training, making it impossible for the hearing-impaired actor to receive instructions.
Zhu believes that there are many limitations in communicating with hearing-impaired people only through body language. Therefore, he has been learning sign language since last year, hoping to break the gap between the hearing-impaired and the hearing-impaired.
An associate researcher at the Department of English Language and Literature of HKBU and a senior theatre actress, Ng Yee-ki, is the coordinator and mentor of the "Er Theatre". She pointed out that there are visually impaired and hearing-impaired people in the group. the importance of the actor.
(Photo by O Jiale)
Relive childhood memories of deceased father through stories
Zhu also recalled that there were many profound experiences in the public performance earlier. For example, the audience shared that his father had passed away when he was 9 years old, and he only had the only photo in his hand. However, the audience pointed out that his father often held a camera, but it was only Always focus the camera on the children and forget that he was not photographed, so classmate Zhu chose to play a camera at that time.
Since the performance is improvised, all the actors will continue to advance the story. At that time, another classmate immediately played the role of the audience's father, "The audience remembers that my father is very fond of Xiqu, and even after returning to the house, he has already embraced him without lowering his expectations. I just want to recreate this scene." The actor who happened to play the audience prototype on stage was a hearing-impaired person, "He couldn't hear me, and he couldn't look at us, so I thought about playing another one. Family members, pointing to the words of "Dad", "Look, Daddy is back!" to help the story go smoothly."
Ng Yee-ki, associate research fellow of the Department of English Language and Literature of HKBU and a senior theatre actress, is the co-ordinator and mentor of the "Earth Theatre". She pointed out that the concept of one person, one story, and embodying inclusivity can be reflected in many aspects in this theatre; There are visually impaired and hearing-impaired people, and it is very difficult to communicate with each other and to adapt to each other. However, Wu Qiqi believes that this can better promote the importance of "citizen actors", "You must be flexible and beautiful first. You can be an actor, in fact, many people with disabilities have the ability, but there is no opportunity for them to develop in society!”
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