When Melissa Leung returned to Hong Kong after graduating from ITI in 2005, she stood out from other Hong Kong actors who were mostly trained in conventional theatre academy programmes. Melissa approaches a role intuitively, tapping into the impulse of her body and senses to develop a character. “The training helped us to open up an approach to understand the world of the text, beyond the scenario, situations, characters and relationships,” she says.

She recalls a time at ITI when she was struggling with a scene from Antigone, a classical Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. She could not deliver the energy and power that her director was asking of her. One morning, she attended Beijing Opera class before her rehearsal. The opera mistress was very strict, and constantly chided Melissa for not being able to maintain a still posture. Afterwards, when she was rehearsing Antigone again, she subconsciously applied the same energy and discipline from the opera class to her monologue. Only then did she finally have a breakthrough and delivered what the director wanted.

Melissa’s unique approach, shaped by the rigour and intercultural nature of ITI’s training, has taken her across diverse roles and institutions, including: Outreach and Education Director with The Theatre Practice, Assistant Artistic Director (Education) and Company Dramaturg with Hong Kong’s City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC).

Although she was first labelled as a physical theatre actor when she returned to Hong Kong, its theatre scene was going through a period of experimentation with writing and acting. Contemporary theatre directors liked working with her because she was actively co-creating, contributing and collaborating. She moved between Singapore and South Korea to pursue opportunities in theatre and education, before returning again to Hong Kong in 2018. Her desire to learn more about theatremaking beyond performance led her to pursue an MFA in Dramaturgy at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.

In January 2026, Melissa performed in a solo performance at West Kowloon Cultural District. It was part of a wider research project, Body as Archive, in which she was featured as one of six subjects studying how the body perceives and stores memory. The process of inquiry was conducted through field research and through sharing collected texts, photographs and videos. The performance was her return to the stage after an eight-year break as an actor, a fitting marker of an illustrious 20-year career.