Huayi Dialogues: Long Time No See with Edward Lam

Edward Lam founded Zuni Icosahedron with friends in the early 1980s and established Edward Lam Dance Theatre, where he serves as the artistic director, during his residence in London (1989–1995). Since returning to Hong Kong in 1995, he has devoted himself to theatre and directed more than 70 original productions. Lam was awarded Best Director at Shanghai theatre festival Modern Drama Valley’s One Drama Awards on several occasions, including for Men and Women, War and Peace (2010), The Doppelgänger (2012), and What is Sex? (2017), and was named Artist of the Year (Theatre) by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council in 2017. A firm believer in education, Lam has given lectures at The University of Hong Kong, the Academy of Film at Hong Kong Baptist University, and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. In 2015, he launched the first edition of ELDT On Screen, a cinematic showcase of four of his adaptations of literary classics. He has also published books of collected essays, including Waiting for Hong Kong, The Meaning of Entertainment, Evil But Glamorous, My TV Dinner Years, and Leading Ladies in the Mandarin Cinema. In 2016, Taiwanese journal Performing Arts Review published Who is Afraid of Edward Lam, Hsu Yen-mei’s analysis of Lam’s stage productions from 2006 to 2015. 

The Artistic Director of Emergency Stairs in Singapore, Xiaoyi is considered one of the most promising leaders at the forefront of the experimental theatre scene and cultural exchange network in Asia. He has been involved in over 80 theatre productions as director, playwright, and actor over the past two decades. Xiaoyi has remained steadfast in his pursuit of the development and transcendence of theatrical forms, while actively promoting cross-cultural and transnational dialogues. Outside of his creative endeavors, he is also a dynamic curator, educator, and cultural critic.

Major awards Xiaoyi has received include Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal (2010), the Young Artist Award (2016) by the National Arts Council of Singapore, Nanyang Outstanding Young Alumni Award (2022), Patron of Heritage and the Arts Award (2023) by Nanyang Technological University, Golden Point Award (2017, 2019, and 2023), Global Outstanding Young Leaders Award by Asia Week (Yazhou Zhoukan) (2024).

Platforms initiated and curated by Xiaoyi include Re-viewer, Singapore’s inaugural Chinese theatre critique platform (2014–present); Southernmost, an intercultural arts festival (2017 – 2019); No More Theatre , dedicated to fostering collaboration between digital technology and the arts (2018 – present); Emergency Academy , a global youth cultural leadership incubator (2020 – present); and The Peripheral Experiment, an independent arts festival (201 – present); Young Artists Incubation Platform Emergency Camp (2014 – present); among others. Presently, Xiaoyi serves as the resident artist in Linjiang New District in Jiangsu Province, China, while holding the position of Senior Research Fellow and International Exchange Advisor at NAFA, within the University of the Arts Singapore.