| Peggy Su rides into town |
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| Culture | |
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Peggy Su is a romantic comedy set in Liverpool during 1962. The main character Peggy works in a Chinese laundry and receives news that her father in China is bringing an intended husband over with him. The race is on for Peggy to find her own love match before she's saddled with her father's choice. When asked about the inspiration for the script, Kevin said he wanted to write a script revolving around a Chinese girl and in that context, make it into a romantic comedy. "I was interested in creating a social-historical document in some shape or form. With Peggy Su, I was trying to capture a time and what life was like for some working in the laundry business." "Peggy Su seems like such a long time ago, the screenplay was commissioned in 1993/4 and I completed the screenplay in 1995. It was then directed and edited in 1996 and shown on the BBC in 1998." As well as its television airing in England, Peggy Su was also sold as a feature film to Hong Kong and New Zealand. "I'm excited about going up to Glasgow and seeing Peggy Su," Kevin told Dimsum. Even though it's finished, I'm always editing in my mind and I'm sure I'llbe sitting there thinking that scene could have been written differently." But when does the script stop belonging to you? "When the director gets his hands on it," he jokes. "You do part company as soon as someone directs it and then it becomes someone else's baby. Writing a screenplay is like an architect drawing up a blueprint for a building. Once he's finished, he hands his plans over for further work." As well as being present at the Peggy Su screening, Kevin will also introduce the film and take part in the discussion afterwards. Born and brought up in Stoke-on-Trent, Kevin is one of two children. Now in his late 30's, his parents emigrated to North West England from Guangdong Province and originally worked in the Chinese laundry business.
Radio Plays
"Green Fingers seemed to work as a play quite well, there was a responsive cast and the writing for this play came far easier than the others," Kevin revealed. "Writing a screenplay for a film takes forever to get off the ground but the lead time for radio isn't as long. Once a radio play has been commissioned, then it's pretty much moving forward." Kevin was also heavily involved in the Royal Exchange Theatre project M14, which brought together students from Manchester and Hubei province in China. This collaboration was conducted entirely over the internet and the script was centred around three Chinese and three English students living in the Halls of Residence of M14 in Manchester. One week, the Chinese students would write an episode of M14 and end their episode on a cliff hanger which would then be taken up by the English students. Then, once the English students had written their episode, the students would hand it over to the Chinese students and so each group would take it in turns to write the script. Kevin went to China with the VSO to meet the students and was delighted with the response. "The college was in a remote, mountainous area and everyone was so enthusiastic," he said. "The Chinese students were writing and communicating in English and the play brought them into a part of England which they probably didn't know about. It was the same with the English students too and hopefully this will mean that the students involved will be interested in each others cultures."
Writing
Kevin's advice to writers would be to write the whole bloody thing! "Don't worry if it's not very good, just do it and finish it. If you keep editing as you go, you'll never write it. Also don't be tempted to read it until you've finished writing. Then go over it and you'll find some bits are good and others will need work." "You need to be obsessive about it, it's a learned occupation and persistence is needed. Kevin is pragmatic about the dearth of Chinese writers around. "When you think about it, the Chinese population in the UK isn't that large, there's probably around 150,000 so in terms of ratio, one shouldn't be too disappointed about the number of Chinese people that are involved in writing." In terms of being represented on screen, Kevin believes that having a Chinese character in a play/show is still perceived as the biggest issue. "We're still not at the stage where the profession comes first and whether a person is Chinese or not is a secondary issue." "The Chinese character is still there by exception, rather than just being a normal fabric of society. But it's important not to limit ourselves by what we do or about the opportunities we can take up." Kevin is currently working on some new ideas and proposals and is in talks with the BBC. He's also interested in writing a smart, psychological thriller. |
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