Sam Wu Is NOT Afraid Of Ghosts promises summer fun at Worthing’s Pavilion Theatre
Sam Liu is the Sam Wu of the title in Sam Wu Is NOT Afraid Of Ghosts as it heads to Worthing’s Pavilion Theatre from August 22-25.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Now, lovely
00:06this afternoon to be speaking to Sam Liu, who is playing Sam Wu. In the wonderfully
00:11titled show, Sam Wu is Not Afraid of Ghosts, which is currently in Wimbledon, but heading
00:18very soon to Worthing for a lovely slot during August. Now, so many firsts for you. First
00:25children's theatre, and it's living up to the expectations, isn't it?
00:30Yeah, it is. It is. Yeah, it's my first ever time doing a kid's show. And I was a bit apprehensive
00:35at first because I'd never done it before. And yeah, I'd never really done a show for
00:40kids. But it's been, I mean, rehearsing the show has been so much fun, because it's a
00:44very funny, wild, high energy show. So we had a lot of fun in the rehearsal room. And
00:50then the minute we put it in front of an audience, like 300 kids, it's like, wow, like,
00:56this is, let's see how this goes. But the enthusiasm and the kind of vocal engagement,
01:02they just were like shouting their heads off.
01:04And they've had a lot to live up to, you're saying, the similarity of names to start with.
01:09Yeah.
01:10That you are a slightly larger grown up version of this character, aren't you?
01:16Yeah. And this character is based on a series of books by Katie and Kevin Tsang. And they're
01:21beloved books. Like I'd never heard of them until I started working on the play, but they
01:26have like real fans. So it was a lot of pressure to kind of, people are coming and watching this
01:30boy who they've imagined in their own head, and they want to see him brought to life on stage.
01:35So I felt the pressure for it to be real. But thankfully, like from the minute I kind of met
01:39Sam Wu, as it were, I just recognised, I recognised him 100%. And his shoes were very
01:46comfortable for me to slip into. And yeah, he's a joy to play.
01:50And it sounds like there's some really nice, important messages here, aren't there?
01:55Yeah, yeah. I think at the heart, it's about friendship and family. And Sam has his two
02:02best friends, Zoe and Bernard. And he has his Nana, who really cares for him and looks out for
02:08him. But he's, he's an odd child. He's, he's very eccentric. And, you know, he gets picked on at
02:14school, like, like we all do. But I think having his two friends, who've got his back the whole
02:21time, kind of gives him the strength to, to do what he does in the show, which is face up to his
02:26fears. Yeah.
02:28And he learns that he is brave, but he does also learn that it doesn't matter if you are a little
02:33bit scared, does it?
02:34Exactly. I think he starts the show thinking being scared is the opposite of being brave.
02:40And I think by the end, he realises you actually can't be brave unless you are scared,
02:44because it's the, it's the being scared and doing it anyway, which is what he does.
02:48And that is, is the essence of bravery. And he kind of, he realises that during the, during the
02:53show.
02:54And there's an element of bravery in, in wearing bright green trousers, isn't there? You can just
02:58see behind you.
02:59There certainly is. There certainly is. There's an element of bravery wearing bright green
03:03trousers and whipping them off halfway through, spoiler alert. Yeah. Getting up on that stage is
03:10an act of bravery. But yeah, yeah.
03:12I'm saying that there's lots of firsts for you in this. You haven't been to Worthing before,
03:16have you?
03:16I've not been to Worthing. I'm really excited. Love the seasides, love a bit of fish and chips.
03:23I'm definitely going to have a dip in the sea, even if it's chucking it down, even if it's grey.
03:28I kind of want it to be like that, because then I feel like I'm getting the full experience.
03:32Get better audiences if it's raining, won't you?
03:34Well, exactly. Exactly. Everyone will want to be indoors. So I'm really excited to come to
03:38Worthing. Yeah, I'm originally from Liverpool. So I grew up, you know, by the sea, but never on
03:45the south coast. So I'm excited.
03:48Fantastic. Well, lovely to speak to you. I hope you have a really happy time in Worthing.
03:52Thank you so much.
03:54Thank you ever so much.