2 replies to this topic

[SHk]

I went to see Hungry Ghost in a tiny Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond last night.  I went there thinking it would be a sort of Christmas story for adults.  How wrong I was, but still how glad I went.  Compelling performances from a small cast of only five.  There were about 50 people in the auditorium.  I think it deserves to be seen by more.

[dude-1981]

I have to say I though that this synopsis:

'Top British racing driver Tyler Jones arrives in Shanghai for the  Chinese Grand Prix. His life is made up of airports, hotels, racetracks,  corporate events and brolly dollies. For Tyler, Shanghai is no  different from Bahrain or Melbourne. He's happy to toe the corporate  party line as long as he can do what he lives to do: race cars. But when  he meets and falls for Chinese dissident Pin-de, their worlds collide.  Racing ambition seems suddenly futile set against Pin-de's struggle for  survival. How can he square his newfound awareness about the reality of  life and death in China, and help Pin-de, without losing everything he  has'

makes this play sound absolutely awful, so I decided to give this one a miss.

[SHk]

It does sound auwful, doesn't it?  I was actually quite uncomfortable with the fact Tyler was an F1 driver, and hated some lines concerning his life-style.  And the fact that the actor playing Tyler didn't look like a F1 racer didn't help. But, I tried to see his profession as the symbol of capitalism in order to see a broader picture.

And for me the central characters were, somehow, not Tyler.  My eyes were glued to the Chinese actors.  Their performances were solid and powerful, with Benedict Wong skillfully managing to change the strength of his Chinese accent according to which language he was supposed to be speaking (Chinese or English).

Anyway, I love small theatres and Orange Tree Theatre is delightful. Staff are all welcoming, which I can't say for some of the big WE theatres.