Written by Lucy Kirkwood
Dir. Lyndsey Turner
Lucy Kirkwood is one talented young lady. Born in 1984, Kirkwood is only a few months my senior. This makes me feel deeply impressed and provides a welcome reminder that hard work and passion pay off. Kirkwood has produced an inventive, thought-provoking play that is currently receiving rave reviews from critics and public alike. And yes, I am about to write another such review.
Chimerica is not Kirkwood’s first play, but for those that hadn’t heard her name following previous successes, this will be the one to blow her out the water. It was first staged in May at the Almeida theatre, and has now moved to The Harold Pinter Theatre, where it is showing until October. Born in Leytonstone in 1984, Lucy graduated from Edinburgh University with a degree in English Literature. She is currently a writer in residence at Clean Break Theatre Company. She wrote and starred in her first play Grady Hot Potato in 2005. Kirkwood has since written other plays, many with dark undercurrents. Her 2009 production It Felt Empty When The Heart Went At First But It Is Alright Now, staged at The Arcola Theatre, provided a moving commentary on sex trafficking. Kirkwood is not shy to pick up bleak and difficult themes, and she tackles them with a sensitivity and humour that make them enjoyable for audiences.
So, what is so good about Kirkwood's latest production, Chimerica?
Well, the script for starters. The story centres on an iconic image taken during the Tiananmen Square protests in China in 1989. A well-dressed civilian, presumably on his way home from work with plastic shopping bags in tow confronts three tanks, standing directly in their path. The play opens with Joe Schofield (Stephen Campbell Moore), an aspiring photojournalist snapping the shot from his hotel window. The story shifts to some years later when Joe returns to China on a visit. China has changed. The play details a corporate and rapidly developing nation, seemingly intent on fitting the American consumerist mould. One of the play’s characters describes it as a nation that has gone “from famine to slimfast in one generation”.
The play recounts Joe’s obsessive search for ‘the tank man’ in his photograph. Joe’s boss Frank (Trevor Cooper) is not convinced when Joe pitches his idea as a ‘good-news, human courage’ scoop. That may be well and good, Frank responds, but it’s not what America is interested in paying for or reading unfortunately. Joe’s blinkered obsession reveals a preoccupation to find a meaning beyond the superficial growth and artifice that now embodies China, as well as America. It turns out that his idealistic interpretation of the image may be far from the truth of the situation. Kirkwood calls to question our interpretation of history, events and the world around us. She starts with a real photograph and exposes the many possible stories that exist behind it.
Kirkwood’s writing is relevant, accessible and jam-packed with witty one-liners to boot. Being funny is something tricky in writing, especially if you are writing about serious matters. You can easily over-bake it, making funny too deliberate and starchy. But here, the characters deliver punchy, off-the-cuff responses when interacting that jolted the audience into riffs of genuine laughter.
This production is innovatively staged and applause must be directed to stage designer Es Devlin. A rotating cube containing different rooms and spaces between America and China provides numerous set changes. Relevant city scenery is projected on the outer cube walls to enhance the wider geographic location and help to shift the movement between America and China.
The acting is superb. Stephen Campbell Moore plays the obsessively idealistic activist, Joe. Claudie Blakley gives a stand out performance as Tess. Benedict Wong, Trevor Cooper and Sean Gilder also shine brightly in fully fleshed out characters. Nothing left to say except to mention Lyndsey Turner who has stitched this play together in her accomplished and confident direction.
Go and see it.
