It's inspiring! I enjoyed it so much.” A student thumbed-up when she finished the Q&A session with Kevin Spacey, after watching the 3-hour drama, Richard III, an early Shakespeare play.

In the Lyric Theatre at HKAPA, at 11:30pm on the weekend, the curtain rose again, over 50 teenagers clapped heartily and welcomed Kevin Spacey. Wearing T-shirt and jeans, the American Oscar-winner was energetic and answered questions patiently, in spite of the demanding role he just performed. He talked about the reasons for launching the Kevin Spacey Foundation and gave thanks to his lifelong mentor, Jack Lemmon, an Oscar-winner in 1973. He was very sincere and believes youngsters are inspired by the words and advice of those with experience and authority in their fields.

The students attending were from Kwun Tong Government Secondary School and Our Lady of the Rosary College. They participated in Richard's Rampage, funded by the foundation, taking part in a 3-hour physical theatre workshop, which was conducted by two professional arts educators, Jonny Dixon and Anne Langford. Participants learnt about physical movement, experiencing organic theatre and had a taste of how characters are created.

The workshop, held a day before the drama, started with an abridged version of Richard III, in which Jonny acted as Richard and Anne was responsible for all the other characters. We were amazed at how they made use of facial expressions, different tones and gestures with only limited props to present complex and dramatic scenes. The performance also helped students become familiar with the story before the full version performed in HKAPA.

Communication on stage

In the workshop, students were asked to walk freely and to find a moment where everyone would stop at the same time without instructions or speaking. They had to look around and communicate without words. Everyone observed and noticed each other which was new to them.

Jonny said, students were not used to that and some were uncomfortable at the beginning. They did not understand and were even confused of what to do. But they soon improved, and came to appreciate the non-verbal communication and connection among themselves. Anne explained that the exercise shows the importance of connection among actors and the concentration required on stage. It could be like a magic to audiences who love to see that physical bonding.

Experience by doing

Instead of sitting and listening passively, students were given lots of opportunities to act. Students explored resistance in a pair-up exercise. Student A was walking while student B put their hands on the other's shoulders and kept pushing. Student A then felt the force and pressure while walking. A participant said after the workshop, “It was surprisingly difficult and I felt like I was learning how to walk again.”

The task was expanded to objectless actions, like pouring tea and holding a knife, and walking towards a crown slowly together as a group. It required imagination and creativity as well. Jonny reminded us that observation is important. We firstly need to know what and how we do something in daily life, in order to capture the uniqueness of a character. Anne stressed that being on stage is different from everyday life. “It is usually bigger.”

Mistakes can be the best bit

Students were encouraged to step out of their comfort zone. They were divided into a few groups and made their own “stairs” — “steps to the crown”. The task was about teamwork and trust which is essential for people in theatre.

Jonny recalled the difficulties he encountered, “We wanted to make instructions clear, and let students feel comfortable and safe. But we also wanted to make it challenging. It's all about balance.” Anne felt students usually lacked confidence, even though they could actually understand the instructions well. Both agreed that many students were afraid of making mistakes. “Mistake can be the best bit in theatre.” Jonny said. “There is no right or wrong.”

Inspire the next generation

For the last part of the workshop, young learners combined all the techniques they had learnt and recorded their own 2-minute video, in one shot. “It was challenging.” A girl said. “But it was the most enjoyable part of the workshop.”

Throughout the workshop, students were exposed to an improvisational and interactive environment as active learners. The workshop may have been a bit short for those who are new to drama. Anne hopes that the workshop will inspire teenagers to participate more in theatre in the future.