Ms. Wang Kit Ching- Cantonese Opera Actress
December 2015

In the recent years, there have been different efforts in Hong Kong to support the training of youth in Cantonese opera. Examples include the Hong Kong Young Talent Cantonese Opera Troupe, the Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong, and various educational programs at the local schools. In 2006 you established Karen’s Meadow Cantonese Opera Studio, is this because you felt that Hong Kong has insufficient supporting frameworks to develop Cantonese Opera actors?

When I first established the Studio, I actually didn’t do it with the goal to produce and create our own shows. Whenever I went to apply to do volunteer work and perform at nursing homes, the nursing homes would always ask what group or organization I was from. I would say, sorry, I’m not actually from any specific organization, I’m just Wang Kit Ching! And they would say, but no one knows who you are! So I thought that since I did voluntary work frequently, maybe it would be easier to set up an organization, to make it easier for me to approach different places.

Actually now there are many people who are working hard to promote Cantonese opera and help cultivate talent. I’m also trying to help in training new talent, and currently am working with the Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong and students from the Po Leung Kuk Schools—currently there are more than ten professionals instructors working together to help train. Besides the two main training places of Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong and Po Leung Kuk Schools, the government as a whole has spent quite a bit of money, through different troupes, to promote Cantonese Opera. So there are efforts from different fronts.