Benny Chia


Benny Chia is an author, festival director, curator, and an active member in the Hong Kong arts scene. He founded the Hong Kong Fringe Club in 1984, modelled after the Adelaide Festival Fringe, and turned a disused ice depot on Lower Albert Road in Central Hong Kong into a vibrant arts venue: the Fringe Club. The history of Fringe Club is covered in Benny Chia's memoir Life on the Fringe – The Almost Naked Memoir, published by Hong Kong University Press and MCCM Creations in November 2024.

Career

Raised in a single-parent and deprived family, Chia turned his life around through his innate love for arts and education, and became the first non-British in charge of a fly-by-night arts outfit during the days of colonial Hong Kong in the 1980s.
Born in Singapore and educated in Hong Kong, Paris and Louvain, Benny Chia 謝俊興 launched the Hong Kong Fringe Festival in 1983, founded the Fringe Club in 1984 and steered the Fringe Club as General Manager and Artistic Director through to 2022 – almost forty years.  He created artistic concepts and wrote scripts for the theatre, and wrote articles for the South China Morning Post and other publications. Chia is a founding member of Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Hong Kong International Film Festival, and the Hong Kong Arts Administrators Association. Honours awarded include the Bronze Bauhinia Star from the HKSAR Government, the Badge of Honour from the former Hong Kong Government, Best Arts Promoter from the Hong Kong Artists Guild, and Hero of Hong Kong from Time Out Magazine.
Chia curated multiple arts exhibitions, notably, frogtopia – hongkornucopia, as part of the Venice Art Biennale 2011, featuring Hong Kong artist Frog King; Ac.cul.tur.at.ion; Shirt Art; Dare to Dream; Almost Blue; and others.

Playwright and stage production

TitleYearProducersVenueCountryDirector and Main Cast
Hong Kong Fable1986Hong Kong Fringe ClubFringe Theatre,
Dom Pedro theatre, Macau		Hong Kong, MacauProducer: Benny Chia
Director: Desmond Jones
Mime artists: Philip Fok & Cheng Pok Yee
Six Chapters of a Floating Life1987Hong Kong Fringe ClubPremiered in 'A Celebration of Hong Kong Artist, City Hall Silver Jubilee' on 19 October 1987Toured in Forum, Macau; Price Theatre, Adelaide; National Theatre, Taipei; Carnivale, SydneyDirector & Choreographer: Kaitai Chan,
Concept and Script: Benny Chia
Cast: Lindzay Chan; Philip Fok
Lament of Sim Kim1991Hong Kong Fringe ClubChinese Theatrical Arts Festival 1991, City Hall TheatreHong KongDirector & choreographer: Kaitai Chan
Concept & Script: Benny Chia
Great Expectations1992Hong Kong Fringe Club & Sydney Theatre Company co-productionFestival of Asian Arts Opening Programme, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Grand TheatreHong KongDirector: Rodney Fisher
Concept: Kaitai Chan
Scriptwriter: Benny Chia
Design: Ho Ying Fung
Lianne & Chuck1996Hong Kong Fringe ClubHong Kong Fringe ClubHong KongDirected & choreographed by Kai Tai Chan
Concept: Kaitai Chan
Script: Benny Chia
Collages:
Christopher Doyle
Play the Old City
Once Upon the Time in Wong Uk
Hong Kong at War - a city of love and betrayal		1999-2002Hong Kong Fringe ClubSite-specific performances at Wong Uk, Shatin, Hong Kong; Coastal Defence MuseumHong KongConcept: Benny Chia
Script: Lung Man Hong
Director: Tang Shu Wing
Heritage consultant: Professor Shiu Kwok Kin
Ho Chi Ming in Hong Kong2006Hong Kong Fringe ClubCPS Central Police Compound & the Fringe ClubHong KongProducer: Benny Chia
Director: Peter Jordon
Concept & Script by Peter Wesley-Smith
Dramaturg: William Gluth
Cast: Lee Chun Chow
體驗劇場：她和他的時間之流2017Hong Kong Fringe ClubHong Kong Fringe ClubHong KongProducer: Benny Chia
Scriptwriter:
Pat To Yang
Director:
Indy Lee
意識之流 Stream of Consciousness2018Hong Kong Fringe ClubHong Kong Fringe ClubHong KongProducer: Benny Chia
Director: Yan Pat To

Retirement and authorship

Benny Chia retired from the Fringe Club in 2022 and started his career as an author with his first book Life on the Fringe – The Almost Naked Memoir, published in 2024 by Hong Kong University Press and MCCM Creations.