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Zabrina Lo

“When you’re my age, you start to think about legacy,” says 79-year-old Fredric Mao Chun-fai, a Hong Kong theatre veteran behind many of the city’s original stage productions and a pioneer in connecting the local theatre industry to the world.
This month, he launched the Mao Chun-fai Performing Arts Charity Foundation to further talent development, research and creation across Hong Kong’s theatre landscape.
The foundation aims to: nurture the next generation of theatre talent and develop international productions rooted in local culture; help mid-career theatre artists further their careers through new productions and research projects; and cultivate theatre appreciation within the community.
For five decades, Mao has been instrumental in shaping Hong Kong theatre.
He studied acting in New York under Sanford Meisner, performing on Broadway in the 1970s before returning to Hong Kong in 1985 as the first head of acting at the then newly established Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts’ School of Drama.

In 2001, he became the first artistic director of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre (HKRep) after its incorporation, producing original Cantonese plays and musicals including The New Love in a Fallen City (2002) and Sweet and Sour Hong Kong (2003). These works were some of the earliest Hong Kong productions to tour regionally.
“We had good actors, we had good productions, and we performed in our own dialect of Cantonese,” Mao recalls of those early days.
However, that formula was not enough to bring the global recognition he felt HKRep deserved.
“From its founding in 1977 up until 2001, hardly anyone abroad even knew we existed,” Mao says. “That was a shame. That’s why I was determined to take us overseas. The process was tough but necessary.”
Today, HKRep is the city’s longest-standing and largest professional theatre company. Since the 2000s, the company has established a footprint across North America, Greater China and the broader Asia region.

Mao stepped down as HKRep’s artistic director in 2008, going on to promote Chinese opera in Hong Kong as the founding dean of the HKAPA’s School of Chinese Opera while remaining active in the city’s theatre scene.
A mission to accelerate growth
Many would be satisfied with retirement after such an accomplished career. Mao, though, is far from done.
“We are in a different era now,” he says. “It’s time for this generation of theatre practitioners to develop a fresh perspective and artistic touch. The continuation of our industry doesn’t mean blindly re-enacting what has been done in the past but discovering new meanings and cultural identities.”
Mao believes Hong Kong’s mindset has transformed, from focusing on black-and-white morality to foundational questions.
“Who am I? How do I choose? How do I become a complete human being? How do I become a hero? That is modern thinking,” he says. “Plays built on this mindset are the ones that connect with contemporary audiences.”

Despite the rise of new arts festivals in the Greater Bay Area and state-of-the-art infrastructure in mainland China – where the Shanghai Grand Opera House is slated to open in October 2026, followed by the completion of the Shenzhen Opera House in 2028 – Mao remains confident Hong Kong will not be outcompeted.
“Mainland China has undergone an immense transformation over the past 20 to 30 years, moving at an incredible speed,” he says. “Whether in Shenzhen or Shanghai, you can watch any kind of show – foreign, local or experimental. They have the space, resources and technology to test new ideas. Yet, because they move so fast, they sometimes lose their way and miss the essence of the craft, settling for superficial form.”
Immersive theatre is a prime example. “True immersive theatre allows the audience to genuinely feel and experience the narrative within a living space,” he says. “It isn’t just about constructing a fancy set to create an illusion of engagement.”
That said, Mao admits that the development of Hong Kong’s theatre scene is “far too slow”.
“The government certainly supported us early on, but that support still feels confined to a very small scale. I don’t mean the physical size of productions. I hope we can be a bit more ambitious in strengthening and expanding the whole theatre ecosystem.”

With his new foundation, Mao hopes to accelerate growth by offering a platform where artists can focus on researching contemporary productions and artistic experiments without constantly worrying about their financial prospects.
The foundation’s debut production will be a yet-to-be-decided Chekhov play in 2027. Mao has no interest in repeating his past Chekhov productions, even though they were critically acclaimed.
“The goal is to inspire the cast to discover where the true value of Chekhov lies today,” he says. “Chekhov understood human nature better than anyone, laying it bare with utmost honesty. Isn’t that something we still need to learn today?”


Hong Kong theatre legend Fredric Mao launches foundation to boost city’s performing arts

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Hong Kong Ballet takes on China’s Mogao Caves in Dunhuang: In Search of Light

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Fredric Mao attends the launch of the Mao Chun-fai Performing Arts Charity Foundation at the Hong Kong Arts Centre on September 3, 2026. The performing arts veteran set up the foundation to strengthen and expand Hong Kong’s theatre ecosystem – the development of which he says has been “far too slow”. Photo: Mao Chun-fai Performing Arts Charity Foundation

Mao (left) performs in the United States early in his career. Photo: Fredric Mao Chun-fai

Mao in a scene from the 2002 play “A Dream Like a Dream”. Photo: Fredric Mao Chun-fai

Prominent figures from Hong Kong’s cultural and arts sectors were among those who attended the launch ceremony of the Mao Chun-fai Performing Arts Charity Foundation. Photo: The Mao Chun-fai Performing Arts Charity Foundation

Mao with his wife, Amy Wu, who is the founding vice-chairperson of the new foundation. Photo: Mao Chun-fai Performing Arts Charity Foundation

Promotional image for “Dunhuang: In Search of Light”, a new production by Hong Kong Ballet choreographed by the award-winning duo Ricky Hu and Mai Jingwen. The premiere will take place from October 16-18, 2026 (Image courtesy of Hong Kong Ballet)

Choreographers Ricky Hu (left) and Mai Jingwen at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. The husband-and-wife team have choreographed Hong Kong Ballet’s new production, Dunhuang: In Search of Light, which premieres in October. Photo: Jonathan Wong

A promotional image for Hong Kong Ballet’s Dunhuang: In Search of Light, choreographed by Hu and Mai. Photo: Hong Kong Ballet

People visit the Mogao Caves site in Dunhuang, northwestern China. Photo: EPA

Hu and Mai began their training in Chinese folk dance before transitioning to choreography. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Remembering Lau Siu-ming, pioneering Hong Kong dancer and revered actor

Dancer and actor Lau Siu-ming played some of the most unforgettable characters in Chinese-language film history.  Photo: CFP

A young Lau Siu-ming performing in the pioneering modern dance work Sea Love. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Lau (right), as the tree demon Lao Lao, alongside actress Nina Li in the classic fantasy film A Chinese Ghost Story III (1991). 

(From left) Victor Ma, Helen Lai, Mandy Yim and Lau in My Life as a Dancer – The Evolution, part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival in 2007. Photo: Leo Yu of The Blue Hydrant

Lau receiving the Life Achievement Award, presented by directors Ng See-yuen (left) and Tsui Hark (right), from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council in 2019. Photo: Hong Kong Arts Development Council

A Hong Kong festival shows how the arts can help seniors live happier lives

Lucy Siu (left), 76, a retired university lecturer, and Bobby Chow, 67, a former TV actor and retired businessman, are pictured at the launch ceremony of the second Hong Kong Creative Aging Arts Festival, in which they are both taking part, at Lok Fu Place on August 6, 2026. Photo: Nora Tam

Rebecca Po, executive director of Arts’ Options, says the charity wants more members of the public to understand the importance and the benefits of elderly arts. Photo: Nora Tam

Actors take part in a performance at the launch ceremony for the Hong Kong Creative Aging Arts Festival at Lok Fu Place on August 6, 2026. Photo: Arts’ Options

People take part in an “Art With You” event at the National Gallery of Singapore. Photo: National Gallery of Singapore.

CCOHK’s Space Fantasy is a visual spectacle great for the whole family

Miles Brown plays the theremin during the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong’s original family musical Space Fantasy at Tseun Wan Town Hall. Photo: courtesy of CCOHK

Recorder virtuoso Gabor Vosteen (right) and 10-year-old harpist and actress Adeline Wong perform during a scene in Space Fantasy. Photo: courtesy of CCOHK

Japanese dancer Kazuho Monster performs the moonwalk in his role as Earth’s Moon in Space Fantasy. Photo: courtesy of CCOHK

Jessica Peralta (left) and Adeline Wong perform during a scene from Space Fantasy. Photo: courtesy of CCOHK

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Arts

Fredric Mao has launched a new foundation to strengthen Hong Kong theatre as mainland China’s arts scene grows at ‘incredible speed’


Fredric Mao has launched a new foundation to strengthen Hong Kong theatre as mainland China’s arts scene grows at ‘incredible speed’.


Hong Kong theatre legend Fredric Mao launches foundation to boost city’s performing arts

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Fredric Mao has launched a new foundation to strengthen Hong Kong theatre as mainland China’s arts scene grows at ‘incredible speed’

Fredric Mao has launched a new foundation to strengthen Hong Kong theatre as mainland China’s arts scene grows at ‘incredible speed’