Capturing and keeping an audience’s attention when you have important messages to deliver about electrical safety and energy conservation can be a challenge for the most effective communicators.

Lessons in acting

As well as delivering important messages to audiences, the performances turned out to be something of an education for the actors.

Actor Shahid, whose family is from Pakistan, says, “Before joining the programme, I didn’t know what voltage means in electricity. I also learned to be more careful as little things such as touching electrical appliances with wet hands can be very dangerous.”

Aasha, also from Pakistan, adds, “I’ve gained some practical knowledge such as how to calculate electrical load. Understanding the electrical capacity of our home is helpful so that we can choose the right electrical appliances.”

Most of the EMDT performers do not speak Cantonese as their first language, so CLP worked with Yuen Long Town Hall’s Support Service Centre for Ethnic Minorities to create bilingual scripts, allowing them to overcome the language barrier and express themselves in Cantonese. 

Staging live events during the pandemic was another challenge as social restrictions remained in place when the programme was launched, and some people were wary about attending large gatherings.

CLP overcame these obstacles by ensuring the health and safety of the performers and audiences through strict protocols, including limited seating, social distancing, mandatory mask wearing, indoor ventilation, and air filtration. 

A rapturous reception

As a result, the pilot programme’s five performances received an overwhelming response and were attended by more than 1,000 people, including students, parents of the performers, and elderly people from Yuen Long and Yau Tsim Mong districts.

Audience member Wong Suk Fong remarks: “I didn't know we can calculate the electricity loading on an extension cord unit. We can now prevent overloading circuits, which is one of the most common causes of electrical fires.”

Government representatives also applauded the programme. “The drama team's performance was fantastic,” says Yau Tai Tai, chairlady of the Yuen Long District Fire Safety Committee.

“They effectively brought out the message of electricity safety and energy saving through various scenarios of household energy consumption in the show. It was both informative and entertaining, and I hope that there will be more of such community events in the future.”

To reinforce understanding of the key messages, questionnaires were distributed through CLP’s NGO partners. More than 1,200 CLP souvenirs were also given to audience members as tokens of appreciation.

Calling for an encore

The Energy Saving & Electrical Safety Education Theatre programme is part of CLP’s Save and Cheers Bonus initiative, which aims to provide support to people in need, encourage energy saving, and bring cheer to the community.

CLP has set aside HK$4.5 million for the Energy Saving & Electrical Safety Education Theatre programme to enhance knowledge of electrical safety and energy saving among customers in the company’s supply areas.

The enthusiastic response CLP received shows the importance of delivering messages about energy saving and electrical safety in an entertaining and engaging way to make them more memorable and effective.

CLP will now extend the programme to 14 other districts around Hong Kong, working in partnership with theatre professionals to support the substantial increase in the number of audience and sessions.

The programme is expected to reach a total audience of around 15,000 people when pandemic restrictions allow performances to resume.