Our Story

"You can't imagine their determination, repeatedly rehearsing even a simple fall."

Back in the Fall of 2023, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts staged a large-scale musical "The Journey in Art", an adaptation of the classic novel "Journey to the West". Both performances were met with enthusiastic responses, with full houses. As the curtain fell, performers and audiences alike were moved to tears, witnessing the wonderful journey of pursuing dreams over the past year and a half, brought to a perfect conclusion.

Funded by the Art Development Fund for People with Disabilities, "The Journey in Art" involved 21 adult service units, 92 trainees, 27 parents and staff from Hong Chi Association. Prior to the performance, participants received trainings such as sand painting, singing and sign language dancing to learn the necessary skills that would come in handy during rehearsals.

Precious Experience

Liu Yee Lam was thrilled about her stage debut, despite occasional tiredness from practices. "I had stopped learning dancing since I graduated from school. It has helped me relearn dancing." This performance is a very precious opportunity to Yee Lam. Even when she suffered from injuries resulted from a street fall, she still persevered through to perfect her performance.

Lee Po Shing, who played the role with 72 transformations was challenging. "The hardest was a fighting scene-performing corresponding actions while listening to my cues and sound effects." Staff rehearsed extensively with Po Shing to help him grasp the content. Po Shing who works in packaging, felt happy to wear beautiful costumes and have his family appreciate his performance. He also hoped that his role could encourage others.

Soulful Creation

In general, theatrical performances are script-driven. "The Journey in Art" took a different approach by assigning roles and designing the plot based on the participants’ appearance, characteristics, and language abilities. The training was then enhanced based on their potential. Chan Wah Leung, Roy, instructor, director and scriptwriter of this musical, believes that each student has their unique abilities and different skills and the story serves as the best connection: "It can highlight each individual performance, allowing the audience to feel the tension within the plot and elevate the original performance."

Storytelling plays an important role in creating emotional connections with audience, which would seem challenging to those without acting training. Students had to discern dialogue from recordings while learning expression, practising scripts at home in spare time. "You would be impressed by their determination, repeatedly rehearsing even a simple fall." Many thankful participants and families saw talents shining on stage, progressing from unable to remembermovements to successful performances. Roy in turn, sincerely thanked the participants and staffs for their dedication, which contributed to the success of the production.