How to save the world, Part 1
Another opening of another show... we did three fairly painless performances and pulled it all down. I think it went quite well, despite having a set designer on-board, the only structural set element was a 4' disc of white painted MDF which I had demanded (to project an image, either of the moon, or of the earth seen from space). Still, it worked for me.
Before this work is unleashed on the paying public though, I think there's a bit more to be done. Still, the word is that it's to be staged in Ipswich in June (Suffolk readers take note!), presumably at the Wolsey, although I couldn't say for certain.
The basic premise of the piece is that of an anglo-chinese person who gets involved with far-left politics, discovers their inherently self-serving and racist underbelly, and escapes to modern china as an asylum seeker, whereupon she is co-opted onto the space programme.
Although there was a strong chinese element amongst the production team, I was the only person who was actually born in China, so I was the chinese-anglo amongst anglo-chinese. I found a lot of what was being described in the play curiously familiar, probably because it was describing a past that, even though I have a place in it, is not part of my actual experience (I was still a babe in arms when we left China). Not only that, but the far-left stuff was all kicking off when I was at school, and I was very familiar with the rhetoric; curiously nostalgic really.
On the first performance, the revolutionary chapter of Lavender Hill trotskyites (I made that up, they were hand-knitted old people with beards*, woolly socks and open toed sandals) packed out the venue, and, given the opportunity to have a post-show discussion with performer, director et al, didn't they give it their best shot. We all wanted to crawl away, sleep, or go to the bar etc, but this mob hadn't been invited to open their gobs in public for decades, and they would sooner die than fail to exercise their democratic right to free speech, and exercise it they did. We'd still be in there if they hadn't rung the bell in the bar.
*I think in this case, rather as in Terry Pratchett, the beard is a transgender issue.
posted by Lampy @ 2/20/2006 09:57:00 pm
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