Tom: You’re one of our regular performers who effortlessly fit into straight plays as well as musicals. Can you tell me a bit about your approach to your acting? Is your process different between the two types of productions?

ChiChi: When it comes to lines, my approach for both straight plays and musicals is understanding my character’s motivations and why they would respond situations and other characters in a specific way. The process differs though in terms of how my character expresses themself facially. In straight plays, instead of instructing myself to look sad, happy or relieved, I’m thinking to myself, “what does my character gain or lose at this moment?” And my face usually brings forth emotion I want to portray. But with musicals, I find myself not only thinking about what my character wants but also what the person opposite me may want during a song and how to portray both their wants and mine.

Tom: And now you’re diving (or freefalling) into the land of pantomimes, which is it’s own beast of fun! I know you saw the first two pantos (Jack and the Beanstalk: A Musical Comedy Pantomime and Blow Me! A Big Bad Musical Comedy), had you ever been to a panto prior? What was your experience of them as an audience member, and how did you feel when you were asked to play such a big part of this year’s production?

ChiChi: I had never been to a panto prior to seeing the ones put on at the HAT, but I had so much fun being part of the audience. It was such a new experience being allowed to respond to the characters and witnessing them acknowledge the audiences responses. When I was asked to play Princess Beauty I was both excited and nervous because there’s a lot more singing required of me than I’m used to, but the rehearsal process has been so fun, encouraging and has definitely brought out a part of me that I didn’t know I had.