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.