CHUN TO YEUNG
楊竣淘
President / Artistic Director
Chun To Yeung is the Artistic Director and President of XTRAMENTAL. He believes that he needs to be constantly creatively-stimulated, hence he grips on every available channel which allows him to expand his knowledge of the theatre. Chun To has a unique affection for breaking conventions. His style of theatre can be traced back to his studies in IB Theatre, and more prominently, the BA Drama and Theatre Arts programme in University of Birmingham, which focuses a lot on physical and devised theatre.
His theatrical pursuit began in Yip’s Children’s Musical Theatre, playing roles such as Billy in Big, the Musical, Pinocchio in My Son, Pinocchio, and Sebastian in The Little Mermaid. In 2018, Chun To performed as Mr. Tooley in Made in Dagenham and as Sketch in Hairspray, the Musical with the Guild Musical Theatre Group. Chun To also stage managed a production of Brecht’s Fear and Misery of The Third Reich in June. He is currently receiving training in the Musical Theatre Masterclass program in London under the direction of Broadway performer Michael Xavier.
His hunger to share stories led him to write a three-act play, Hello To My Hollow Heart in Summer 2017. He was also the librettist and lyricist of the musical production, How I Cracked Singing which premiered in July 2018. Mind, and Hours is however, the most ambitious project yet. He believes that a story about Hong Kong would seem inauthentic if it’s not produced in mostly Cantonese, but writing Cantonese lyrics is difficult both creatively and technically, so he is curious about audience’s response. It is also his debut as a choreographer for a show, which is something he looks forward to after almost ten years of dance training.
Chun To wants to see more Asian actors in the theatre, and have kept his name as it is to show his pride for his culture.
楊竣淘是蛋炸饅頭劇場的藝術總監與主席。他對舞台情有獨鍾，不斷尋找新途徑來擴展與挑戰自己對舞台的認知。他喜歡打破格局，他的風格極受國際文憑的戲劇班和伯明翰大學的戲劇學士課程影響。兩者讓他對 Physical Theatre 和 Devised Theatre 感到興趣，而想將這種創新的藝術運用在他的表演上。
楊竣淘自少喜愛表演，曾在葉氏兒童合唱團擔任種種不同的角色如：《Big, the Musical》中的 Billy，《My Son, Pinocchio》中的 Pinocchio 和《The Little Mermaid》中的 Sebastian。今年，他在 Guild Musical Theatre Group 飾演了《Made in Dagenham》的 Mr. Tooley 和 《Hairspray, the Musical》的 Sketch 。他也在他的大學課程裡助理舞台監督了 《Fear and Misery of the Third Reich》。他每個週末會到倫敦的 Musical Theatre Masterclass 上課，而老師都是來自 West End 和百老匯。
他喜歡表達自己的想法與故事，於是寫下和導演了《Hello To My Hollow Heart》，於去年夏天初次公演。他也為葉氏寫下了《How I Cracked Singing》，於今年七月公演，成為此演出的劇作家和填詞人。但今天的《Mind, and Hours》是一個深一層的挑戰：以廣東話為主，要寫出巧妙、意味深長的歌詞，既要考慮到押韻、廣東話音調等等的技術性問題的確不簡單。他也是第一次為一套劇編舞；希望他近十年的跳舞基礎能夠讓他創造出美麗的舞蹈。
楊竣淘對舞台上甚少見香港人，深表遺憾；亦希望能夠啟發與給予年輕人一股勇氣去追求自己夢想。