Meaghan McGurgan

HK Magazine: Tell me about your background in theater.
Meaghan McGurgan: I’m originally from outside Atlanta, and they filmed “Driving Miss Daisy” in my town when I was five. That was the first time I realized that performing could be a job. I did stage productions in high school before getting a Bachelor’s degree in directing and a Master’s in theater. Once I graduated, I was a tech performer for professional opera for a while, and then came to Hong Kong to direct plays with disadvantaged and special needs kids. That was five years ago now.

HK: What’s different about the local theater scene now, as opposed to when you first moved here?
MM:  There used to be a British group, an American group, a German group—they are much more fused together now. It’s also a lot more inviting. You don’t have to fight so much to get involved, and people are more open to new ideas. The newer independent venues, like Hidden Agenda and Beating Heart, are very kind and are a great option for groups who don’t have an extra $20,000 lying around to rent a venue. That’s been a huge help in expanding the scene.

HK: Is there money in producing a theatrical production here in HK?
MM: There’s more money in film and television, because investors are more likely to get their money back. And it’s much easier for a Chinese-speaking group to get a government grant, because their productions get press coverage. When I would go to grant reviews, the panel would say, “where are your press samples?” I’d have one, and it would be from Tom Grundy’s blog, HongWrong. You need three samples—something tangible like a preview or review of 500 words—just to get in the door, which is a difficulty. I don’t think newspapers are aware of that. As an artist, I really feel that arts criticism in Hong Kong is lacking. 90 percent of people in the community would tell you that it doesn’t matter whether a review is good or bad; we just need coverage to get funding and people to the shows! That’s the whole reason I started my blog—I couldn’t get press out to my shows.

HK: You turned your personal arts blog into a full-time job as the editor of HKELD.com. What is the site for, and how did you land the gig?
MM: HKELD stands for Hong Kong English Language Drama, but it’s pronounced “heckled.” My investors are a tax company, a lawyer, a medical supply company—it’s just people who are passionate about Hong Kong arts and arts criticism, and who missed seeing theater reviews when SCMP and Time Out stopped doing them. They’re philanthropists. They saw my website and really enjoyed reading my coverage of the local scene, and so to keep me around they invested in something that was needed for the community. Most of my readers are between 18 and 30, so they are very money conscious. When they choose a show, they want a quality product. So they read the reviews first, then buy the tickets.

HK: How would you respond to someone who argues that local productions are of a much lower quality than the touring companies who bring their big stage shows to Hong Kong from overseas?
MM: I think that view stems from people’s miscast expectations for local and touring shows. Even on Broadway or in London, it’s apples and oranges to compare a straight play that’s done at a black box with a budget of $1,000 to an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. They are completely different things. When I go to the Hong Kong Arts Festival there are certain shows I see and love, but honestly, my all-time favorite show was one I spent five dollars on. There is a capability to have a deep emotional connection with no budget, so when you go into a show you need to consider the artist’s intentions—what are they setting out to do, and did they achieve it? Did they entertain you? I’m going to expect a whole heck of a lot more from a show that costs 1,000 bucks than one that costs $150.

HK: How did “The Hecklers” come to be?
MM: I started it on my personal blog and did it all in my spare time last year. I was not expecting that many people would care outside the scene, but we wound up with 4,000 people voting. It was close, too—one category came down to two votes. The ceremony was done in 25 minutes and then people got hammered, but this year it’s a fancy thing, with food and wine sponsors and a photo booth and a big party at Bisous. It’s about celebrating the local guys who bust their butt and work their regular nine-to-five jobs and do it in their free time, or who do shows and entertain our audiences full-time. The Hecklers are about celebrating local art—it’s a “thank you” to those who love this city, work in this city, and create art for the people of Hong Kong.