Chimerica

Lucy Kirkwood's play Chimerica has transferred from the Almeida Theatre to London's West End.  The play, which tells the story of an unknown hero in 1989's Tiananmen Square, is on at the Harold Pinter Theatre until 19th October.

The unknown hero aka Tank Man, who squared up to government troops, unarmed, in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989 was captured on film by American photojournalist Joe (played by Stephen Campbell Moore).  Almost 20 years later Joe sees a cryptic message in a Beijing newspaper and becomes obsessed with finding Tank Man to discover the story behind the iconic image.
Joe is helped by Zhang Lin (played by Benedict Wong, pictured left) and together they try to unravel the past.  The play has underlying themes of China’s uneasy relationship with the West and current socioeconomic issues.  

The play has received rave reviews and I hope to catch it myself....  There are 100 £10 tickets for every performance available from the box office on the day from 10am.

Have you seen the play?  Please share your thoughts with Lucky Cat readers in the comments below.

Daniel York's short play Song Of Four Seasons (四季歌) is @ Rich Mix Fri 17th May

Daniel York's short play Song Of Four Seasons (四季歌) has been selected for Tamasha Theatre’s next Scratch Night at Rich Mix this Friday 17th May.  The performance is script in hand but rehearsed and stars Michelle Wen Lee, Jennifer Lim and Jess Woo.

The play concerns identity, displacement and belonging. It was inspired by the singer Chinese singer Zhou Xuan and the song Four Seasons which is a tale of separation, love and small people whose lives are destroyed by big events. 

Zhou Xuan, is one of China’s great movie stars whose life was as dramatic and tragic as any of the characters she portrayed. I discussed her fascinating life and career in my radio programme on The Seven Singing Stars of Shanghai.  Her legacy lives on today and the song Four Seasons featured in the 2007 Ang Lee film Lust, Caution.

 

Daniel York's short film, Mercutio’s Dreaming: The Killing Of A Chinese Actor, was recently nominated for four awards at the WMIFF festival.
 

Daniel's full length play, The Fu Manchu Complex, will open the autumn season at Ovalhouse Theatre this October 2013. 

I spoke with Daniel, who is also the Vice Chair, Equity Minority Ethnic Members’ Committee, earlier this year about the RSC Orphan of Zhao casting controversy.  Daniel York is now part of the group British East Asian Artists. 

I am really pleased that Zhou Xuan's life and work will be brought to a wider audience with this play.  The Pathe 100 compilation of her music is highly recommended (see below).

 

 

New British Chinese Talent: Actor/Director Eldarin Yeong

Eldarin Yeong is currently taking the MA Text and Performance (directing) course at Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and has directed the upcoming play The Ghost Sonata.

"An encounter between a poor student and a mysterious Old Man on a Sunday morning changes the fate of both forever. Encouraged by his adventurous nature, the young man decides to make his fortune by accepting the Old Man’s bargain, and gets himself invited into the admiring House of Colonel. It isn’t until he falls deeply in love with the Colonel’s daughter that he realises he has stepped into the House of Dead…"

For more info on Eldarin see:
https://sites.google.com/site/ghostsonatatheplay/crew/eldarin

The Ghost Sonata will be on at the Chelsea Theatre, King's Road 18th - 21st July.

 http://www.chelseatheatre.org.uk/the-ghost-sonata-by-august-strindberg/

I bumped in to Eldarin at the Chinese Visual Festival as she was leaving some flyers for the play.  Hopefully I might be able to catch up with her for series 7 of Lucky Cat (coming to a radio/computer near you from Moon Festival time, details soon).