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Review by Stuart Wood.
The Albany Theatre, New Cross, sees a double-whammy celebration this weekend
courtesy of the sterling Mu-Lan Theatre Company. Audiences will feast
on eleven new works by New British Oriental writers, comprising ten small-scale
performed readings and one larger, showpiece presentation "Dining
Alone" (Lab Ky Mo).
Arising out of a programme in conjunction with the Royal Court Theatre
in Sloane Square, the Festival aims to promote and support British Oriental
writing. In doing so, it inevitably showcases the considerable talent
within Mu-Lan's stable of actors. So, a double feast then. Artistic Director
Paul Courtenay Hyu says they've "bitten off a lot". But have
they bitten off more than they can chew?
A programme of ten performed readings in half hour slots is certainly
a hefty dollop of theatre. In the wrong hands it could easily turn stolid
and repetitive. However, Hyu and Mu-Lan's New Writing Associate Cris Bevir
have compiled a stimulating evening which makes up in charm what it lacks
in
variety. The pieces range in tone from almost polemical satires to profound
meditations on human archetypes.
Andy Cheung's frenetic "Double Think Chink" features an aspiring
actor forced into an excruciating stereotype to land a part in a noodle
commercial. It's a terse reminder that Oriental actors in Britain still
face discrimination within the industry, and despite its hysteric flavour
simmers with real frustration. Ironically I thought it would work even
better on the small screen.
"Auspicious Signs" by Jennifer Lim is a comment on the lengths
some folk will go to in order to land a visa. In a blend of the old 'Green
card' and 'Wedding Banquet' ideas, it concerns a young hotographer, Ang
Li, played with commanding subtlety by Melody Brown. A chance remark with
a chinese colleague leads to the familiar plan to fabricate a romance
thereby keeping their parents off their backs, and her visa safe. As a
vehicle for quite explicit social themes and character types, it is a
convincing work.
Mu-Lan has an ethos of encouraging writers to explore not only the identity
issues which surround them but also the more fundamental themes which
make them simply human. In addition to the clearly 'political' pieces
in the Festival, we are offered others of more personal, human concern.
An edgy mixed-race lawyer in Matt Wilkinson's "Sun is Shining"
pronounces with all his lockstock fury, "Who do they think we are?
We're humans" which seems to sum it all up.
Similarly, the spellbinding "Mental Arithmetic" by Bruce Wang
is masterful not so much for the bold use of sex noises as for the way
he deals with the fashionable 'crisis of masculinity'. Choosing not to
go for the usual repressed thirtysomething he gives the dramatic impetus
to an ageing father played with gravitas by Daniel York. This is a nice
take on a zeitgeisty topic, sympathising a little with this old man escaping
his regrets.
Mu-Lan is amassing a base of both watchable and ponderable theatre. As
a showcase of new writing this Festival offers promise of both popular
and profound work to come. It will be a pleasure to watch it grow.
INFORMATION
You can catch the Mu-Lan Festival on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th September
at the Albany Theatre, Douglas Way, New Cross. Friday's performances start
at 3.30pm and Saturday's at 1.00pm. Tickets are free. Call 020 8694 0557
for more details.
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