Chimerica

Inspired by one of the 20th century’s most powerful and iconic images, New Theatre is thrilled to be bringing Lucy Kirkwood’s acclaimed contemporary saga, Chimerica, to the Sydney stage this August.

In 1989, as tanks rolled through Tiananmen Square, a lone man, holding plastic shopping bags, stood in their path, and entered history. Who was he, what was the story behind his protest, and what became of him?

Acclaimed English playwright Lucy Kirkwood takes these questions as her starting point to engage in a sweeping saga across countries and cultures that encompasses geopolitical intrigue, whip-smart comedy, and intimate human drama.

Still searingly relevant today, this is political theatre at its brilliant best. This thriller tracks two decades of China-America relations through the parallel and intersecting stories of a photojournalist and a dissident.

Artistic Director, Louise Fischer, is taking on the enormous challenge of bringing this modern example of epic theatre to the New Theatre stage. “It’s a huge story. And I like telling big beautiful moving stories” she said.

“This one has a deceptively humorous tone but when I dug deep, as the characters do, the play unfolded and I was left breathless in the last pages as the plot twisted and the reality of the legacy of Tiananmen and the magnitude of the devastating personal cost is revealed.”

“If I had to describe this play in three words, it’d be: captivating, provoking, moving. And really, can you ask for anything more from live theatre?” said Louise.

This has been a challenging play for New Theatre to cast, given the number of Chinese characters involved, most of whom are required to speak Mandarin, but we were encouraged by the response to our audition call-out and the high standard of actors who put their hands up to be involved.

Lucy Kirkwood is an award-winning British playwright whose plays include Geronimo, Guns or Butter, Tinderbox, It Felt Empty When the Heart Went at First But it is Alright Now, Beauty and the Beast, NSFW, The Children, Mosquitoes, The Welkin and That Is Not Who I Am.

Her play Chimerica premiered at London’s Almeida Theatre in 2013 and subsequently transferred to the West End’s Harold Pinter Theatre in the same year – winning the 2013 Evening Standard and 2014 Olivier Awards for Best New Play as well as the Susan Smith Blackburn Award.

In 2017, Sydney Theatre Company presented the Australian premiere of Chimerica to critical acclaim. In 2019, Channel 4 released a four-part television drama inspired by the play.

Director: Louise Fischer | Featuring: Les Asmussen, Michael Booker, Oliver Burton, Jasmin Certoma, Katrina Chan, Tony Goh, Chloe Ho, Ava Lee, Jon-Claire Lee, Enoch Li, Liz Lin, Alice Livingstone, Ciaran O’Riordan, Matthew Yuen | Set Designer: Tom Bannerman | Lighting Designer: Michael Schell | Costume Designer: Andrea Tan | Vision Designer: Verica Nikolic | Sound Designer: Paris | Assistant Director: Tui Clark | Stage Manager: Rosane McNamara | Lighting Operator: Oliver Stokes | Sound/AV Operator: Tim Stokes

Chimerica
New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown
Season: 16 August – 10 September 2022 (preview: 15 August)
Information and Bookings: www.newtheatre.org.au