Having finished 16 one-man shows just recently, I have deep thoughts about the fledgling community of theatregoers. So I have decided to write something about such thoughts.

What is the difference between watching a theatre performance and seeing a pop concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum or a movie in a cinema? Let me now change the direction of your line of sight away from the auditorium, and help you see what I see as a performer on stage.

Most stage theatres in Hong Kong have a seating capacity of 300 to over 600. Even the larger ones, including Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Lyric Theatre, Kwai Tsing Theatre and Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre, can accommodate just around 1,000 people. These figures are way smaller than those of Hong Kong Coliseum, Hong Kong International Trade & Exhibition Centre, or even Queen Elizabeth Stadium, all venues for pop concerts. However, in a stage theatre, the performers can get much closer to the audience. Those of you among the audience can watch the performances on stage because of the lighting. As for us, the performers on stage, it is impossible to see what transpires below the stage, unless you among the audience have a light source.

With the growing importance of electronic communication devices, cellphone functions and design are becoming increasingly impressive. Much like mini computers, some cellphones can even give off light rays like torchlight. Once, some busy people among the audience found it impossible to leave their routine tasks behind during my two-hour show. They could not help switching on their cellphones whenever there was a change of scene during lights out to check for SMS, check the time, make sure their cellphones were OK, or email an update to a friend. What I saw on stage was like several naughty Halloween spirits making faces to scare people by shining a torch on their faces in the pitch-dark (And it was really scary!). While performing on stage, I kept worrying if I was getting in the way of their busy lives or, even worse, if my performance was so boring as to make them want to leave halfway through the show.

There was this other time when most of the audience were well-behaved and no cellphones went off, except for someone sitting in the middle who left his Bluetooth headset on his ear. How did I know? It's because the blue light of the Bluetooth headset kept blinking throughout my two-hour show, providing an extra lighting effect for my performance.

(To be continued.)

* Translation from Chinese article.