THREE LITTLE MENby Wing Man Lam

THREE MEN IN ONE ROOMEACH WONDERING WHY THE HELL THEY’RE THERE – AND WHO THE HELL THEY ARE…

There’s a danger here of over-gushing but here goes.  Wing wrote THREE LITTLE MEN in English after graduat-ing from the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York (so there’s a very strong American rhythm to the dialogue) but her first language is Cantonese. Every actor I showed the script has been wowed by the dialogue.  To me, it’s amazing that she can write so fluently and funnily in a second language – and so perceptively about men when she’s a woman.  But maybe it helps her to have that distance. Like Beckett writing in French…

 

I’ve been producing new work for Not So Loud and now for Brave Heart since the 1990s.   The great thing about working with a local author is that you can clarify issues as you go along and (usually) refine the script for the bet-ter in rehearsal.  The great thing about working with Wing – aside from her having written a great script – is that she understands, as a trained actor, the dramatic process.  The cast and creative team has thereby  felt liberated and affirmed to do our best by her. We trust our best will suf-fice to entertain and edify you here at Premium Sofa Club for this world premiere production.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE:

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The outline structure of Three Little Men is inspired by Three Tall Women - three characters, at three different stages of life, in the same room. A is sickness-ridden eld-erly, B is the carer and C is someone pertinent to the law. In Albee’s play, there is an abrupt change in character identity between Act 1 and 2 and it is not evident until Act 2 that the three characters are the same person at differ-ent stages of the same life. In my play, the characters maintain the same identity throughout and spend the length of the play discovering their identity. Critics believe Albee’s play is an exploration of his foster mother, with whom he had a difficult relationship. In that sense, I would say his play is about the character of this woman with her colorful but not necessarily amiable personality. My play is about the journey of discovery and personal evolution each of us makes. I wrote it in the hope of invit-ing the audience to reflect on their own personal evolu-tion. They are completely different plays but, if there was no Three Tall Women, there’d be no Three Little Men.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

CAST  –A  :  Erik  FloydB:  Andy  ChworowskyC:  Harry  OramSCRIPT  –  Wing  Man  LamDIRECTOR  –  Tom  HopePRODUCTION  –  Emillie  Chiu  &  Mary  Jane  AlejoPHOTOGRAPHY  –  Ines  Laimins

With  special  thanks  to  the  following:

Scapa  ScandiaSinclair  CommunicaFonsPremium  Sofa  Club  managementHugh  Chinnick  of  Pacific  LighFng

CREDIT LIST

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Andy Choworowsky

Apart from occasional breaks to run restau-rants, Andy has been a professional actor in Hong Kong since 1982, when he joined the storied group Actor's Rep.  "Three Little Men" is his first production with Brave Heart, and his second with Not So Loud, having played Iago in Shakespeare's "Othello" a few years ago.  Movie credits include "Off Limits" with Willem Dafoe and "Shanghai Surprise" with Madonna and Sean Penn.  His nearly immortal lines "You guys are dicks for going to Duc Pho" and "It's in the stern, sir" were both relegated to the respective cutting room floors of said films.   If you search YouTube hard you can also see him being beaten up in a number of Hong Kong ninja and/or gangster movies from the

eighties.  To support his theatre habit, Andy coaches speech and presentation skills with Black Isle Group and is a much sought-after event emcee.

Harry Oram

It has been over a year since Harry has been involved in a play.  He had told Tom Hope, if the play was good, the timing was right and he got his own trailer fitted with a widescreen TV, he would be in.  Along came Three Little Men.

Harry has been a big supporter of the concept of BraveHeart Theatre.  HK deserves a perma-nent English language theatre especially one that fosters new writing.  Harry is particularly proud that the author, Wing Man Lam is his co-alumnus from the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York.  He is delighted to be a part of this world premiere.

Harry, however, is still waiting on his promised trailer and widescreen TV...

Erik H. Floyd

Three Little Men is Erik’s first starring role since he performed as the Chorus in a school pro-duction at age 12. Returning to the stage after fifty years, Erik is grateful for the opportunity to test the ability of his mature brain to remember his lines, and to perform in character across a broad range that includes both doddering old man and healthy free spirit. Eager to build on the TLM experience, he is confronted with the reality that at his age directors may pigeonhole him into roles as an old dying guy. Life is a journey, always full of new possibilities, and he looks forward to turning back the clock and playing younger versions of himself in future productions.

Wing Man Lam Writer

Wing Man Lam is a local writer and actor. She was trained in acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film institute in New York. She prides herself on being a one-time Instagram sensation for her portrayal of a very creepy broken rag doll  in Ocean Park’s Halloween Bash in 2013. She is currently studying how to write prose ‘properly’ with City University’s MFA program for creative writing. 

Tom Hope Director

Tom has written, directed, produced and acted in Hong Kong theatrical productions since 1991 when he co-founded the Not So Loud Theatre Company while working as a lawyer here.  Now in its 21st year, Not So Loud continues to produce English language drama addressing Hong Kong issues in a dramatic way. Meantime, Tom retired from the law to work at The Old Vic in London (2003-6), pro-duced two professional London shows (The Mouse Queen and Slippery Mountain 2007-8) before returning to Hong Kong in 2009 to pur-sue his dream of founding an English lan-guage professional repertory theatre company in the territory.

Emillie ChiuTechnical & Creative Director

A Fine Arts graduate (BA hons) from the Chi-nese University of Hong Kong (2013) then further studied Stage Production and Sound Design in The University of Virginia, Emillie has exhibited her fabric sculptures and re-lated works in spaces around Hong Kong whilst freelancing on numerous theatre, filming and multi-media projects in art direction and set/costume designs.

Further info: http://emilliechiu.weebly.com/

BIOGRAPHY

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