This is a life-affirming production.
I don’t read anything about a show before I see it. (This decision is all about retaining objectivity and absolutely nothing to do with the fact reading takes effort and, if I was into effort, I wouldn’t write about theatre.)
Having read nothing about Lady Precious Stream, I initially thought it was an example of charming orientalism. It tells of a noble family’s attempts to marry off their youngest daughter to an appropriate suitor, despite her utterly unreasonable desire to live her own life.
What is orientalism? (And can it be charming? Or is it merely sinister?) Orientalism is a positing of the Other in a way that benefits the Occident. It may function as a justification of imperialism. It may function as way of establishing identity – by way of definition by opposition. (For example; in this play, characters are mocked for their misogyny and obsession with status. And, of course, there’s absolutely nothing like that in our society.)
That’s the sinister form of orientalism; what about the charming form? This presents the exotic. It offers a vision of life that is invigorating because it’s so different from our own. (And, potentially, from anyone anywhere’s actual life. Much thrilling and life-expanding theatre is this type of orientalism.)
As it turns out, Lady Precious Stream is a Chinese play.
What exactly is a Chinese play? What does the adjective in that term signify? (Skip this bit of pedantry if you want; after all, language is merely a net we drag through the ocean of reality; it doesn’t catch everything, and everything it catches it kills.) Is a Chinese play a play written in Chinese? Or a play written by someone born in China? Or a play written by someone not living in China but descended from people who did? Or a play that just happens to be about China, written by anyone?
Lady Precious Stream is based on a traditional Chinese story and was written in English by Chinese playwright S. I. Hsiung. It was first performed in the 1930’s in England, with an English cast. Is it accurate to call this play a piece of orientalism? After all, it was written by a Chinese playwright. But for who? An English audience. (See my earlier comment about pedantry.)
This production is by Asian-Australian company Slanted Theatre, and it’s a whole lot of fun.
It works beautifully on two levels: working within the parameters of the charming form of orientalism, and operating as a gentle parody of the reductionism that all orientalism tempts us into if we read it as realism.
What’s so marvellous about this production by director Tiffany Wong and her brilliant cast is its exuberant lightness.
The whole team offer wonderful comic performances. Wise beyond her years and cheekily independent, Susan Ling Young shines as Lady Precious Stream; it’s an inspired piece of casting. Steve Lu and Mym Kwa each play a couple, each doubling as both husband and wife, and the effect is dizzyingly mischievous.
The Flying Nun by Brand X provides an invaluable space for artists to experiment, and Wong uses the opportunity magnificently. Her playful mixing of modern tech and more traditional elements of movement and sound create an art work that is gloriously conscious of its status as an artefact. Who needs reality; this is magic.
Veronica Kaye
Lady Precious Stream by S. I. Hsiung
The Flying Nun by Brand X 1 April – 2 April
Image by Liangyu Sun @ theatreworks
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