Acting From The Heart – Franchesca Wong
I am an actress, currently freelancing. Recently, I did a solo theatre play called Every Brilliant Thing in Cantonese, originally written by a British playwright - we translated it to Cantonese for the HK audience. The play is about the spectrum of emotions experienced when dealing directly or indirectly with the reality of depression and suicide, providing a refreshing way to destigmatize mental health.
On the day of the first show, as I normally do, I spent time praying and worshipping in the theatre one hour prior to opening. I asked for God’s presence and that the Holy Spirit would come and fill the room. As I was praying, I had a sense that healing was going to take place that evening, and I felt strongly that someone really needed to be healed by God. As I prayed, I became excited and confident that God was going to do something that night. I messaged my community group right away and shared this with them (side note: a week before, our community group talked about healing and we all prayed for each other). So I asked the group to pray for the show, and especially for those who would come.
After the performance, a girl who came shared her story with me. In fact, she suffered from severe depression for a few years and she is now trying to walk out of it. She shared that the play touched her heart and she felt healed by it and it gave her hope. At that very moment, I realised “THIS IS IT” - this is what God is using me for. For the remaining seven shows in the following week, my prayer warriors and I kept on praying and healing definitely took place in every show. Nearly every night people from the audience would message me and tell me the same thing.
On the same night a human rights lawyer, who’s also a God-loving woman, came to the play and was touched by it. So touched, she invited seven other young people to the play later on (some of these young people are her current clients who have been going through trial since the protest two years ago). Several of them are suffering from severe depression and PTSD and we both felt like God was definitely working through the performance in very interesting ways. Praise God!
For me, it was more than just a performance, it was something far beyond just a show. I’ve been asking myself for the last two years, what am I doing as an actor? What’s my purpose? What does God want me to do? How am I contributing to the community when the world is collapsing? I am not a doctor, nor a lawyer, or a politician, I can’t be in the front line, helping people or making direct changes to the community. Yet, by doing this play I’m reminded of my mission/ purpose in acting.
If you’d like to get in contact with Franchesca Wong or keep up with her shows, please check out her Instagram (@franchesca_wong) or send her an email: fwongyw@gmail.com
