Artistic Director: Lo Ching-man, Carmen

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A veteran director, scriptwriter, and actor. Ching-man has earned a Master of Arts in Theatre with Distinction from the Guildford School of Acting (GSA) at the University of Surrey, as well as a Master of Art in Practical Philosophy from Lingnan University. A Bachelor of Arts degree (Hons) in Film and Video was also earned by her from Columbia College Chicago, USA.

 

Ching-man was a former member of the Chung Ying Theatre Company. Productions include: I am Hong Kong, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Volpone, City of Cats, Pinocchio and Far Away Home, and directed Waking Up by Franca Rame & Dario Fo, Antigone by Bertolt Brecht, Educating Rita by Willy Russell. During her service in Chung Ying, her The General Rules was rewarded championship in the “On Hong Kong Stage” one-act play script writing competition jointly organized by Hong Kong Arts Centre and Seals Players.

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Right after Ching-man had left Chung Ying, she established the Cinematic Theatre Company. She takes a crucial role in scriptwriting and directing for most productions of the company. Recent productions include Fate of a Phoenix, Watching U..., My Luxurious 50 Sqft Life, Informer, and the 5-hour production Dynasty.

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Moreover, Cinematic Theatre grasps every opportunity to explore overseas cultural exchange possibilities. In 2003, the Company was invited by PETA, The Philippines to present Autumn Maze (English-Chinese bilingual version) in the “Asia Pacific Festival-Conference of Women in the Arts”. Ms Lo, the Artistic Director of Cinematic Theatre, presented her thesis at the Conference. In 2004, another production Tell me More was presented in the touring performance of “Women’s Heart Plays” jointly organized by Singapore, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. In 2005, at the "Asian Women Theatre Conference" (Shanghai, China), Ching-man also presented her thesis, and the excerpts of Winter Solemnity were screened. In May 2008, invited by the National Taiwan University of Arts, College of Performing Arts, the Company went to Taiwan to take part in the 2008 Symposium on Italian Playwright Dario Fo and Ms Lo was also invited to present her thesis “The woman characters in Dario Fo’s women plays”. In February 2009, Waiting for the Match (Mandarin version) was invited to join the 7th Chinese Drama Festival organized by Chinese-Taipei Theatre Association. This production was also invited by Theatre Farmers, Macau to perform in the Studio Theatre of Centro Cultural De Macau, and The Beijing – Hong Kong – Shanghai Young Directors’ Showcase @Modern Drama Valley Expo Season, organized by Shanghai Modern Drama Valley in collaboration with the Beijing Theatre Association and Hong Kong Arts Development Council at Shanghai Theatre Academy in May 2010. In 2011, Ms Lo was invited to join the 8th Chinese Drama Festival and represented Hong Kong to present the thesis “HK Theatre: The dimensions of the video image on multi-media theatre ”, exchanging ideas with theatre artists from Beijing, Macau, Taiwan, Shanghai, Singapore and Japan, etc.

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Ching-man is also very active in television and film productions. She is the screenwriter for Radio Television Hong Kong TV drama include《帶菌者》、《給子清的信》、《四海一家》及《活在邊緣》首集《一路走下去》etc. 《帶菌者》and《給子清的信》were honoured with the Silver and Bronze Awards respectively in the New York International Film and TV Festival. Film productions include Viva Erotica (script co-writer) and Inner Senses (movement coach for female ghost and scriptwriter). Besides, she is also the guest director of Beliefs Soar (first run and re-run) presented by Stage64.

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In addition, Ching-man has taught part-time in tertiary education institutes. As a teacher, she has taught drama workshops at Lingnan University, the Screenwriting Programme in the Media Arts Department, the Hong Kong Art School, and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (Technical Arts School and Drama School). Ching-man is currently a part-time lecturer at Hong Kong Baptist University's Academy of Film in the department of 'Acting for Global Screen'. Besides serving as an adjudicator for the Hong Kong Federation of Drama Societies, she is also an examiner and assessor for the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. She is now the founder and artistic director of Cinematic Theatre Company.