HKAPA

Mr Lau Shun is a veteran Peking opera actor and Chinese opera director. He was a disciple of Peking opera masters like Li Wanchun, Li Shaochun and Gai Jiaotian. Upon graduation from Beijing’s National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in 1958, he joined the China National Peking Opera Company as an actor. After relocating to Hong Kong in 1980, he embarked on a teaching career at the Hong Kong Dance Company and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Among the signature repertoires he has performed are Havoc in Heaven, Yandang Mountain and Wu Song.

In 1986, Mr Lau served as the Chinese opera consultant for the blockbuster Peking Opera Blues. In 1990, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 10^th Hong Kong Film Awards for his portrayal of the Eastern eunuch in The Swordsman. With over a hundred film credits to his name, his most recent film appearances includes The Grandmaster in 2013. Drawing on his rich Chinese opera experience, he has excelled in a wide range of cinematic genres and roles. Over the course of his film career, he has become known as the “Thousand-faced Buddha” as well as the “Golden Supporting Actor”.

Since 2000, Mr Lau has been focusing on adapting and directing Chinese operas. He has directed the like of Yau Sing-po, Law Ka-ying, Wang Ming-chun, Chan Ho-kau, Lee Lung, Wan Fai-yin and Chan Ka-ming. In 2013, he directed a new Cantonese opera, Battle at Wancheng, for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s Chinese Opera Festival. By infusing distinctively Cantonese opera elements such as “loud gong and drum, grand armour and robe” into the Peking opera system, he has paved the way for a new approach to contemporary Cantonese opera. In 2016, he directed Sacrificing the Son for the Festival. Mr Lau is devoted to the study of the performing arts and the development of Cantonese opera. His bold attempt to bring together Cantonese and Peking opera elements into his work has earned him much respect from the industry.

Mr Lau has played a key role in fashioning the Academy’s Chinese Opera curriculum. Since his appointment as Programme Coordinator and Artistic Advisor in 2000, he has helped design the programme as well as better connect the Academy with the industry. He has taught fundamental techniques, repertoire studies and special topics courses. His directorial works for the Academy include Five Daughters Offering Felicitations, Ping Gui Bids Farewell, Weiyang Palace, The Peach Blossom Fan, Heaven Shaking Bow and Cosmic Mirror. He also took students from the programme to Europe on a performance tour. Committed to nurturing new talents, in 2011, Mr Lau wrote and directed a new work, Arena, for a troupe founded by graduates from the Academy.

For over three decades, Mr Lau has dedicated himself to the development of Cantonese opera. An important figure in the industry, he has also helped build a solid foundation for the Academy’s School of Chinese Opera.