Artist of the Month-April-Boaz Lo
This month's Artist of the Month is Boaz Lo. Boaz is a multi-talented artist and drama teacher who has skills in both the technical and acting world. We became a fan of him at a young age when he was a student. Now, he's a full grown adult, working on shows, teaching his own students and helping change Hong Kong's cultural landscape. You can catch him this month at Shakespeare in the Port, Hong Kong's first outdoor Shakespeare festival. He's the production coordinator, a lighting technician and Lucentio in Taming of the Shrew. Talk about multi-tasking! Get to know him, below.
1. Name, Birthplace, Age
Boaz Lo, Hong Kong, 20
2. How does where you were raised affect your work?
I was born and raised in Hong Kong - where East meets West. The first art form I learned to appreciate was Chinese Opera. I still remember the very first time I went to my grandmother’s Chinese Opera performance, I had no idea what she was singing. As a 4 year old, I was attracted by her vocal and facial expressions. As time went on, I luckily ‘bumped’ into different performance opportunities, such as Chinese speech competitions, Shakespeare Plays, Dramatic Duologues and Public Speaking in my secondary school life. I totally enjoyed all of these performances – I enjoy performing!
During the past few years, I have met a lot of friends from around the world, most of them from the performing world, chasing their dreams in their own ways. In one way or another, I have learnt a lot from them. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my two mentors, who guided me from the beginning of my performing path –Matthew Gillespie and Shiona Carson: both of you have always motivated me to continue performing.
3. Where did you train?
The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Major in Drama.
4. What is your favorite style of theatre? Why?
My favorite style of theatre is physical theatre. I believe that body language is the most honest way to communicate between one another. I think physical theatre helps actors to show what’s deep down in their heart. It's the strongest tool theatre has - bringing the audience into the world of stage performance.
5. What was the best show you EVER saw?
Last year, I went to see my grandmother performing in our community. It was a small show. But when I saw her came out from backstage, I felt she brought me and every audience member into the world she and her partner created. At that moment, I felt the power of theatre came straight into my heart.
6. What was the best show in HK you EVER saw? (You cannot say your own.)
End Time Monsters by Artocrite Theater. A show that's about the last six hours before the world ends. This show showed how dark human beings can be in front of death, reminding us about the mental problems and the evil thoughts hiding in our heart, which will eventually come out somehow at some point.
7.What piece of work are you the most proud of? (please include photo, if possible)
I am playing Lucentio in “Shakespeare in the Port” starting from mid-April. This is my first time being an actor, the production coordinator and lighting operator all at the same time. To be honest, THERE IS A LOT OF WORK WAITING FOR ME TO DO! Though it’s a pretty stressful job, I’m kind of enjoying it. I’m really glad to be a part of the first outdoor Shakespeare show in Hong Kong. Our team put in a lot of effort on this project and I believe we can give the Hong Kong audiences a brand new impression of how Shakespeare can be.
8. What is your process like?
Follow my body’s instinct is what I will always do. When I try to understand a character, the first thing I do is try to find the movements my character does. By finding the movements I can understand the lines and the character more deeply. This is my first time doing Shakespeare, so language was ‘of course’ one of the biggest difficulties. At first, I was saying words without meaning. But as the rehearsal process went on, I found more common characteristics between Lucentio and myself; there’s where I started to understand Lucentio. I am very exicted to bring Lucentio ALIVE!
9. What is your dream project?
My dream project is to create a children physical theatre show in Hong Kong, probably a comedy. As a children’s drama teacher, I would really like kids to discover even more possibilities in their bodies and their hearts.
10. If you could change one thing about the art scene in HK, what would it be?
In Hong Kong, the current support for community theatres, independent theatres and small scale companies isn't enough. I really hope the government can give more support to them and other artists with passion for the arts and not just money.
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artist of the monthComments
Nicole Garbellini
Love Boaz!
02 April 2014Jade Lui
I think the Artist series should include a question about whether they are single, gay or not. You show us these yummy artist boys and we don't know if we can have them or not/?!!!
02 April 2014