Ko Tin-lung


Ko Tin-lung was a Hong Kong actor, director and playwright. He became the first Chinese artistic director for Chung Ying Theatre Company.
Over his career of nearly four decades, he helped produce hundreds of plays, most notably One of the Lucky Ones, I Have a Date With Spring and The Mad Phoenix. He won four Hong Kong Drama Awards in the categories Best Actor and Best Director. He died in June 2022 in his sleep at the age of 69.

Biography

Early education

Ko was born in Hong Kong. He grew up in Wong Tai Sin District, Kowloon and attended Choi Po Sin School, Fatima English Primary School and St. Francis Xavier's College. Organize school drama activities together with former director of Planning Department Ling Kar-kan. When Ko Tin Lung was in the second grade of elementary school, he was selected by the teacher to perform the "white swan spoon dance" at the Kai Tak Amusement Park. Later, one time, the principal blamed a certain classmate in the classroom for being too noisy, Ko stepped forward, which left the principal a bad image. Unable entered the "sixth form" preparatory course, he transferred to New Method College to complete the course and was admitted to the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He graduated from the Sociology Department of Chung Chi College.
His interest in drama began in middle school, and he was accompanied by drama throughout his middle school and university days. While in university, he was warned for frequently skipping classes to attend rehearsals. After obtaining a degree in 1979, he studied the Diploma of Education of the University of Hong Kong, and also served as an English and economics teacher at Chan Shu Kui Memorial Secondary School.

Career

In 1983, Ko joined the Hong Kong Repertory Theater as a full-time actor, beginning his professional theatre career. He acted in A Line, Amadeus, Pu Yi, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Merchant of Venice, Marat/Sade, 1841, among others. Later, he also involved in play-writing and directing. His first self-written and directed play was Between Teachers and Students.
In 1987, he received the Lee Hysan Foundation Grant from the Asian Cultural Council, which enabled him to travel to New York, USA. Although he originally planned to undertake formal studies at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, his learning ultimately took place through hands-on experience with professional theatre companies and observations of productions. He participated in La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club's dance-opera production of Mythos Oedipus and professional Broadway productions of Circle Repertory Company. At Circle Repertory Company, he also served as assistant director in Borderlines. In 1988, he wrote and directed a play-in-progress Sinodyssey with La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club.
In 1989, he returned to Hong Kong and became assistant artistic director of the Hong Kong Repertory Theater. In 1990, he created and directed One of the Lucky Ones, which he adopted from Lucy Ching Man-fai's autobiography. It was later adopted into a film of the same title, which he acted in and produced. In the following years, he collaborated with Chung Ying Theatre Company for the first time and translated Noël Greig's Rainbow's Ending, Willy Russell's Educating Rita, and John Gardiner's The Dracula Spectacula. He also served as the director for Raymond To's I Have a Date with Spring and The Mad Phoenix.
In 1993, he joined the Chung Ying Theatre Company as the artistic director, becoming the troupe's first Chinese artistic director. Since then, he began promoting productions of original plays and theatre-in-education. Multiple initiatives were launched under his leadership. In 1994, the company announced their first season of all local original plays, including Killer Instinct, The School and I. In 2000, the Borrett Laboratory began as an initiative to explore originality in public performances; And, in 2002, Playwrights' Theatre aimed at supporting playwrights at their early career, such as Candace Chong and Leung Shing-him.
In 2005, Ko finished One of the Lucky Ones. It was staged with the remade of previous version. He continued to write and direct The Merchant of China. In March 2019, he retired from his role as artistic director after 26 years of service.

Outside theatre

Ko had written columns to multiple publications. While he was still in New York, he began writing a column surrounding Broadway theatre for The New Evening Post on 31 December 1987. In 2003, he started writing columns for the Hong Kong Economic Times and Wen Wei Po.

Death

On June 23, 2022, Ko Tin-lung was found to have died in his sleep. The news was announced by Raymond To on the same day.

Works

Theatre

Acting
A Line Amadeus Pu Yi The Importance of Being Earnest The Merchant of Venice Marat/Sade 1841
  • ''Mythos Oedipus''
    Directing
^ Plays that he also wroteBetween Teachers and Students^ Sinodyssey^, a play about overseas Chinese in the 60's USOne of the Lucky Ones^, adopted from Lucy Ching Man-fai's autobiography.
  • Raymond To's Tokyo Blues
  • Raymond To's I Have a Date with Spring
  • Raymond To's The Legend of the Mad Phoenix, a.k.a. The Mad Phoenix.The School and I^
  • Tan Tarn How's The First Emperor's Last Days The Merchant of China^, adopted from the life of Hu Xueyan.
    Translating
  • Noël Greig's Rainbow's Ending
  • Willy Russell's Educating Rita
  • John Gardiner's ''The Dracula Spectacula''