Reader Reviews
Re-Orientations (Soho Theatre, Inner London)
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 | Re-Orientations at Soho Theatre is an amazing piece of devised work from a company called Border Crossings, who are co-producing with companies from China, Sweden, France and India. It's got at least five languages in it, and uses the different theatre forms of the cultures involved, as well as a very strong element of multi-media. This may all sound confusing - but actually it's brilliant, clear storytelling in a very contemporary way. It feels like surfing the net, or walking down a busy street - there are all sorts of connections being made across the globe. The play begins in a Shanghai night-club, and moves on to India, where a charity worker gets a phone call to say that her daughter, who she hasn't seen for years, has died. Meanwhile, her ex-husband is working with some Swedish actors performing Miss Julie at the Shanghai Festival, with terrific comedy of linguistic and cultural confusion resulting! The play veers between comedy and tragedy at breakneck speed - so you are laughing one minute and crying the next - especially when an hilarious scene in a Chinese Starbucks turns into a dance about the history of 20th century China. It seems unfair to single out anybody in the ten-strong cast: they are all stunning. But I guess the highest acting honours go to the two Chinese actresses - Song Ru Hui for her sensitive portrayal of Song, the bereaved lesbian lover, and Wang Jue, who is hilarious as the peasant girl arriving in a bustling city. Totally stunning. - Nisha Dassyne | 13 Sep 10 |
