Wikipedia

Fredric Mao

Fredric Mao Chun-fai (毛俊輝; born 1947) is a Hong Kong theatre director and actor. He served as the artistic director of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre (HKRep) from 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2008. He is currently the director laureate of the HKRep.[1]

Fredric Mao Chun-fai
毛俊輝
Born (1947-02-03) February 3, 1947 (age 79)
Shanghai, China
Alma materBaptist College
University of Iowa (MA Drama)
Occupations
  • Director, actor
  • theatre educator
Known forArtistic Director of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre (2001–2008),Director Laureate of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre
Notable workBroadway debut in Pacific Overtures (1976);
SpouseAmy Wu (胡美儀) (m. 2004)
AwardsBronze Bauhinia Star (2004)
Honorary Fellow of the HKAPA (2005)
Outstanding Artistic Contribution Award (2017); Lifetime Achievement Award - Hong Kong Drama Awards (2024)

Early life and education

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Mao moved to Hong Kong from Shanghai as a teenager. He studied at Bethel School (伯特利中學) in Kowloon City (Form 6 in 1964[2]), and later studied English literature at the Department of Foreign Languages of Baptist College (now Baptist University of Hong Kong).[3] There, he was taught by Chung King-fai, who sparked his interest in theatre.[4] He also joined the Hong Kong Amateur Players' Club (香港業餘話劇社) and gained both acting and backstage production experience including costume design, particularly in Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie directed and acted by Chung.[4]

In 1968, he went to the University of Iowa in the United States to study drama (acting major and directing minor[5]) and obtained a Master of Fine Arts (MFA).[6][3] As a non-native English speaker and an Asian actor, he faced limited performance opportunities and had to put in extra effort to overcome cultural and language barriers.[6] At the time, the MFA was a relatively new degree and was regarded as the highest academic qualification in the arts, comparable to a PhD.[6] After graduating, he studied under Sanford Meisner,[a] widely regarded as one of the three most prominent theatre instructors at the time, for two years.[6] Meisner initially rejected him due to his MFA, saying the course focused on fundamentals, but Mao insisted that he still hoped to study under him and was accepted.[6]

Career

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Between 1972 and 1985, he worked professionally in the United States with various theatre companies,[7] including directing and acting in theater, film, and television, and participated in Broadway musicals.[8] While pursuing directing opportunities, he also worked with New Dramatists.[5] At the age of 27, he served as the artistic director of Napa Valley Theatre Company in California,[7][9][10] and later served as the deputy director of the New Media Repertory Company in New York.[11] In 1976, he made his New York Broadway debut in Pacific Overtures, a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and directed by Harold Prince.[7]

In 1985, Mao returned to Hong Kong. That same year, he began to serve as the head of acting at the inception of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (HKAPA).[7] He helped design the School of Drama and the curriculum for directing.[12] His students included Anthony Wong, Jim Chim, Olivia Yan, Tse Kwan-ho, Emotion Cheung, Joey Leung, Lau Nga-lai (劉雅麗), Louisa So, Lau Yuk-chui (劉玉翠), Anita Lee, Sunny Chan, Cheung Tat-ming, Karley Ng Ka-hai (Mok Hei; 1985),[12] and Lo Chi-sun (盧智燊).[3][13]

In 1989, he directed his first production for HKRep, a double bill featuring David Henry Hwang's A Sound of a Voice and Raymond To's A Gleam of Colour, which was produced in HKRep's first ever Black Box Theatre under his advice.[14] His first acting production after returning to Hong Kong is Raymond To's Moon Light Opera (1992), where he was the protagonist and met his wife Amy Wu, under the invitation of Karley Ng at the 10th anniversary of Exploration Theatre.[12] Mao gained widespread acclaim for his directing in the 1990s, notably for The Legend of a Storyteller (1993) and The Kids, the Wind and the City (1994).[7] His acclaimed adaptation and direction of Shaw's Saint Joan (1997) was considered one of the decade's best productions and won six awards at the Hong Kong Drama Awards.[7]

In 2001, he became the first artistic director of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre after its incorporation.[15] Establishing its brand and maintaining high-quality original productions posed significant challenges. He also sought to diversify its repertoire by introducing other forms of theatre, including physical theatre.[16] At the time, pay for staff followed a civil service-style system inherited from its period under the Hong Kong government, which is largely based on seniority and years of service rather than performance.[16] In response to limited training and career prospects for theatre practitioners, he introduced a performance-based reward system to better recognize talent and contribution.[16] Under his leadership, HKRep produced their first play outside of the city with Sweet & Sour Hong Kong, reaching Shanghai.[16] This milestone helped the company spread its name beyond Hong Kong.[16]

Over the years, Mao has taught at Stanford University, University of Toronto, Peking University, Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.[8]

In 2002, Mao was diagnosed with a late-stage lymphoma in his stomach. He underwent surgery to remove his entire stomach and received chemotherapy.[3][17]

In a 2017 oral history interview organized by the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC), Mao said that the object that best represents his life would be the comics of Al Hirschfeld, a New York artist known for illustrating the performing arts and their artists. Hirschfeld created drawings of many Broadway theatre productions, typically one piece per performance, later collected into his published works. One of these illustrations features Mao himself, credited under his former name, "Freddy Mao." The artwork was also published in The New York Times. Mao added that this serves as a meaningful reminder that he was once part of the American theatre scene.[18]

In May 2022, with the support of the Hong Kong & Macau Intangible Cultural Heritage Research Center and the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mao launched the three-year project called "Jockey Club Mao Chun Fai Innovative Works in Theatre Scheme" (賽馬會毛俊輝劇藝研創計畫), which means that opera will become the focus of his work for some time to come.[3][19] The project will explore the "creativity" of Cantonese opera, and hopes to write a new chapter for the development of traditional Cantonese opera through Mao's rich knowledge of directing, creation and talent training, as well as his rich experience in stage practice in Chinese and Western cultures.[19] While cultivating a new generation of all-round Cantonese opera talents, he plans to introduce new creative styles that are in line with the development of the times and recognized by the public, continuously expand the Cantonese opera audience, and enable the intangible culture of "Cantonese opera" to be inherited and developed.[19]

Honor

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Mao won the Hong Kong Drama Award for Best Director five times and the Best Actor Award (Tragedy/Drama) twice, and was awarded the "Artist of the Year Award" by the Hong Kong Artists Guild.[8] In 2004, he was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong SAR Government, and in 2005 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.[20] In 2017, he received the Outstanding Artistic Contribution Award from the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards.[21] In 2024, Mao was awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the Hong Kong Drama Society at the 32nd Hong Kong Drama Awards in recognition of his outstanding achievements and contributions in various fields such as directing, acting, drama education and research.[22][23]

Notes

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  1. ↑ a theatre practitioner who developed a system to train actors called the Meisner Technique

References

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  1. ↑ Yazhou Zhoukan (2019) 毛俊輝小檔案. Available at: https://www.yzzk.com/article/details/文化/2019-07/1550115915520/毛俊輝小檔案
  2. ↑ "中文中學會攷放榜". 華僑日報. 31 July 1964. p. 22. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 香港經濟日報HKET. "【書展2022】毛俊輝疫情完成出書心願 胡美儀伴夫抗癌共歷低潮". 香港經濟日報HKET (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  4. 1 2 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃-第一期Drama Archive (17 September 2017). 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃（第一期）：毛俊輝 錄影訪問（一）參與業餘話劇社製作的經驗. Retrieved 4 April 2026 – via YouTube.
  5. 1 2 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃-第一期Drama Archive (17 September 2017). 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃（第一期）：毛俊輝 錄影訪問（五）在美國生活，雖然以演出為主，但始終鍾情導演工作；自美回港後的首個舞台演出：《一籠風月》. Retrieved 4 April 2026 – via YouTube.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃-第一期Drama Archive (17 September 2017). 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃（第一期）：毛俊輝 錄影訪問（二）在美國兩段不同的表演學習經驗. Retrieved 4 April 2026 – via YouTube.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Meyer-Dinkgrafe, Daniel, ed. (2002). Who's Who in Contemporary World Theatre (2nd ed.). Routledge. pp. 191–192. ISBN 0203105907.
  8. 1 2 3 "Fredric MAO Chun-fai | HKAPA". www.hkapa.edu. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  9. ↑ "奇遇之後的承擔". 明周娛樂 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 23 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  10. ↑ "廿七歲的奇遇". 明周娛樂 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 9 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  11. ↑ "毛俊輝口述：我與戲劇的"緣"與"願"". 經濟導報-香港歷史最悠久的中文財經雜誌 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  12. 1 2 3 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃-第一期Drama Archive (17 September 2017). 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃（第一期）：毛俊輝 錄影訪問（四）為戲劇學院設計及編寫課程，引入不同表演練習；首屆已設導演系課程. Retrieved 4 April 2026 – via YouTube.
  13. ↑ 信報財經新聞 (13 September 2018). "與同學合作搞舞台劇 關寶慧：好像回到從前". 信報財經新聞 HKEJ. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  14. ↑ 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃-第一期Drama Archive (17 September 2017). 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃（第一期）：毛俊輝 錄影訪問（七）難忘的音樂劇創作經驗：《風中細路》；首個為香港話劇團執導的節目：黑盒劇場首個演出《聲／色》. Retrieved 4 April 2026 – via YouTube.
  15. ↑ "香港話劇團宣佈候任藝術總監". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃-第一期Drama Archive (17 September 2017). 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃（第一期）：毛俊輝 錄影訪問（八）出任香港話劇團公司化後，首個藝術總監的重大挑戰. Retrieved 4 April 2026 – via YouTube.
  17. ↑ "同舟人誓相隨 胡美儀毛俊輝". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  18. ↑ 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃-第一期Drama Archive (17 September 2017). 香港戲劇資料庫暨口述歷史計劃（第一期）：毛俊輝 錄影訪問（代表物件）Al Hirschfeld的漫畫. Retrieved 4 April 2026 – via YouTube.
  19. 1 2 3 "賽馬會毛俊輝劇藝研創計劃". 賽馬會毛俊輝劇藝研創計劃 (in Chinese). Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  20. ↑ "香港演藝學院：榮譽院士". Archived from the original on 14 July 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  21. ↑ "藝術發展獎得獎名單公布". Archived from the original on 21 June 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  22. ↑ "粵劇搞新意 移步不換形 - 20240517 - CULTURE & LEISURE". 明報 Our Lifestyle (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  23. ↑ "不獲藝發局資助「香港舞台劇獎」堅持舉辦 田蕊妮奪最佳女主角". 大紀元時報 香港｜獨立敢言的良心媒體 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 29 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
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