Every year when I leave Macao for rehearsals and tour shows, I need to take time to think: “What on earth am I taking with me this time?” Don’t get me wrong about whether I’m talking about proper clothes for the trip, or computer and iPad. Also, I am not saying daily necessities and supplies and so on (Although these should be good themes for Vlogger). In fact, the biggest difference between going to rehearsals and travelling is that in the rehearsals, you have the opportunities to meet many investors, producers or creators. Some of them may know something about you, while others are peers who meet for the first time in the same field. At this time, it is better to have something in the backpack that can help the other party to know about you. In addition to properly showing your own personality and the troupe’s, it could be more effective for you to quickly open the topic to be discussed next.

The traditional way, of course, is to give a personal card with a decent title printed on it, like a piece of bright clothing. But when you are abroad and the other party knows nothing about the group you are working for in your own country, just a few titles are hard to remember. In addition, the more effective business cards in the art circle are often reflected in the details of how to treat people. Therefore, in recent years, the art circle has been less and less to send out cards. Sometimes, it is more casual and popular to add the other party’s Facebook or WeChat directly.

It would be more respectable to provide with a brochure of the production or troupe you represent, preferably in a formal printed form rather than on A4 paper. Depending on the needs of the troupe, the layout can be complicated or simple, but some important performance information and the troupe’s current artistic orientation should be clearly elaborated in the brochure. They can be shown through some pictures, stills, designs or the typesetting. They can also be some simple texts. The press kit of individual performance is different from the introduction of the troupe season programme as a whole. The press kit should have a specific description of the scale of the performance, such as what kind of theatre is suitable for this play, the number of performers, the number of audiences, technical requirements and so on. However, the introduction of the troupe season programme is more about the artistic direction and aesthetic pursuit. This expression can be very different from others and can be treated as a paper exhibition to some extent. There are other leaflets, such as those made for the independent arts festival, which can also be displayed in the same way. This is a great way to quickly let potential investors, interesting groups, and creators know about your current artistic field and background.

Another interesting way is to hand over a souvenir associated with the troupe or the works, which may be a sack, a folder, a pen, or an original sound track (OST). This kind of informal greeting gift often tends to be more effective at getting closer to each other than the formal publicity materials mentioned above. I once performed in the underground small theatre in Yokohama Japan, and received a small sticker designed by the theatre manager. Due to its unique design and small size, I have been putting it on my trunk. But you have to make sure the small gifts you bring are of good quality, from the print colour of the troupe’s logo to the practicality and beauty of the souvenir, because everything will be the impression you leave on others.

Every time I leave Macao for performance, I can not only gain applauses and hone my skills, but also have the great opportunity to make friends in the same trade and broaden my knowledge. After getting more creative exchange of opinions, I can also observe how artists from different places run their own troupes and works in various ways of getting along with others. These rare experiences will be put together into my backpack for touring and continue to go next performance destination with me.