Hung-Yen Yang’s action-comedy comes to Wollongong
Following a successful run of shows at Parramatta’s Lennox Theatre in late October, Austinmer arts consultant-turned-playwright Hung-Yen Yang is bringing his debut play A Practical Guide to Self Defence to Wollongong
Following a successful run of shows at Parramatta’s Lennox Theatre in late October, Austinmer arts consultant-turned-playwright Hung-Yen Yang is bringing his debut play A Practical Guide to Self Defence to Wollongong.
From Wednesday, November 9 to Saturday, November 12, the Merrigong Theatre Company and Riverside’s National Theatre of Parramatta co-production will be showing at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre.
“Merrigong Theatre Company were instrumental in the development and staging of this play, so it was always going to definitely be – at the very least – it was going to be a Wollongong showing… and fortunately we had a partner in National Theatre of Parramatta,” Yen said.
“It was really important to have it shown in Wollongong – I always considered Wollongong home, even though I lived in Sydney after the age of nine or 10.”
Despite never viewing himself as a prolific writer, Yen has been chronicling his experiences and storytelling for two decades, and decided to begin publishing his personal anecdotes, practical martial arts tips (hence the name) and illustrations to his blog in 2017.
Yen considered making a film but ultimately decided his story was best suited to the stage.
“I realised if I'm going to go this way, then I actually should try and make it a play,” Yen said.
“Every [theatre] performance that you see is unique, and there's something very special about a live performance.”
So far, the unique blend of slapstick humour, martial arts demonstrations and creative multimedia elements integrated in A Practical Guide to Self Defence has been its drawcard. Though the action-comedy is a witty retelling of Yen’s experience of growing up Asian in ’80s Australia – including in his hometown of Mount Ousley (now Keiraville) – the play explores racial discrimination and intimate experiences of poignancy, and the humour, Yen says, came accidentally.
“I didn't actually mean to tell it that way, it just happened to be that way, because sometimes people in these sorts of situations, they say and do the funniest things that really cannot be scripted… Not least of all myself,” Yen said.
“I first got an inkling of [the humour of it] when my wife read an early draft and she was laughing, and I said, 'Oh, what are you laughing at? Was it really that bad?', and she said, 'Oh, no, no. I didn't realise it was going to be so funny'.
“People will tend to go through a gamut of emotions because, yes, it's an action-comedy, but it's got genuine drama and authentic pathos.”
Led by director Dom Mercer, the production team features audio and visual designers who have creatively pieced together a “multimedia extravaganza”, Yen says, and cast-of-two Edric Hong and Alan Zhu who play Older Yen and Younger Yen traversing through time to impose wisdom and reflect on life’s hardships. Of the Parramatta showings, Yen says: “The actors were amazing, the director was amazing, and the response was amazing.
“It really seemed to strike a chord with people, and those who I didn't actually think were in the core demographic… they really, really got it.
“It was like, ‘Ah, there's a real depth to this’, and also just the entertainment factor – it's fun all round.”
To read more about A Practical Guide to Self Defence or buy tickets to Wollongong shows, visit the Merrigong Theatre Company website
