What brings an Oscar-winning animator, a leading TV actress and a top musician to join the cash-strapped W Theatre? A love of life, writes Lee Wing-sze

IT'S THE SAME everywhere. To lure big names and talents to a stage production, you either promise them lots of money or a worthwhile, thrilling experience.

The first was never a consideration for W Theatre, which - like most independent theatre companies in Hong Kong - runs on a shoestring budget.

So, it must be the latter that attracted the likes of Raman Hui (the supervising animator on Oscar-winning animation Shrek), Louisa So Yuk-wa (television and theatre actress) and musician Chet Lam Yat-fung to its latest production, Superman Forever.

Scheduled to run at the Hong Kong Arts Centre later this month, Superman Forever is described by its creators - W Theatre founder Wong Chi-lung and co-director Roy Szeto Wai-cheuk - as adult, fairytale musical theatre.

'It's not the script or money that drove me to work with them,' says So, who won the best leading actress prize at the Hong Kong Drama Awards for her part in Hong Kong Repertory's Between Life and Death in 2003. 'It's because I believe that I can learn a lot from them.'

Having seen and enjoyed W Theatre's previous works - including the well-received musical Best Memories in My Life, love story Love in December and comedies Fai Chai and Queer Show, So says she's looking forward to working with the young theatre group and expects it to be a different acting experience.

'I felt really exciting and energetic inside when watching their plays,' she says. 'I've wished that I could have the chance to be part of their productions, to enrich my acting experience.

'Wong and Szeto ask us actors a lot of questions, like, 'Why do you deliver the lines, or act, in this manner?'

They make me think all the time and give us all such a hard time,' she says with a laugh. Co-directed by Szeto and Wong, who also wrote the play, Superman Forever is about a tough city woman, Louisa (played by So), who discovers she's suffering from brain cancer.

She then meets a man (Lam, who also wrote the show's music) who claims that he's Superman No1 and helps her to explore life and death.

So says that if she had been offered such a character few years ago, she might have regarded it as just another job and handled the character in a mechanical way. But W Theatre demands much more of its actors.

To prepare for the performance, all the actors and the directors shared their feelings about the script and the topics of life and death. They were asked to get back to basics - to observe and feel - a process that So says inspires her.

'This stimulates everyone to think,' says the actress who graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 1991 and began to get roles in TVB dramas in 1993.

She says working with the theatre group allows her to prove that acting and theatre is an unlimited world.

'People may think I'm a good actress,' she says. 'However, I think there are still acting methods and skills to explore. I really want to push my limits. It's tough. But no one says that acting is an easy job.'

Hui says he was as impressed as So by a performance that triggered their collaboration: Queer Show - a stand up comedy in which Joey Leung Cho-yiu discusses the problems faced by local gays. This month, Leung was named best leading comedy actor and the show was one of the 10 best productions at this year's Hong Kong Drama Awards organised by the Hong Kong Federation of Drama Societies.

The self-funding W Theatre's debut in 1999 was youth drama Tomorrow Never Knows, about the life and thoughts of people in the new millennium. In 2002, it made a name with the comedy Fai Chai, about Hong Kong people during the recession. The next year, the group teamed up with musician Chet Lam for their first musical theatre, Best Memories in My Life. The production, set in a 1980s public-housing estate, focuses on young people and was a success.

Szeto, who first teamed up with W Theatre in 2002 for Love in December, says the company has given him a lot of room to explore his creativity and develop his directing skills. 'I'm given a lot of freedom to do whatever I want,' says Szeto, who in 1990 graduated in directing from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

'I have to be more conservative when directing for other theatre groups and companies. Here, they dare to try anything. I can use more of my instincts when handling W Theatre's plays.'

Wong says the theatre can provide a platform for people to exchange ideas. 'Everyone needs to give and listen to each other to make the entire show more comprehensive - working the play out together.'

He says his motivation for writing Best Memories came from his aversion to youth drama. Wong staged Queer Show last year because he'd always thought stand-up comedy was boring.

And Superman Forever? 'I've always thought life is not really that meaningful - we spend our days aimlessly most of the time, going to work and all that,' he says. 'I hope the play can help me to find out the meaning of life.

Superman Forever, Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre (in Cantonese), Apr 20-24, Apr 25-May 2, $220, $280, Urbtix. Inquiries: 2734 9009