Set against a sweeping historical backdrop which runs from 1935 to the 90s, Katie Posner’s pacy production takes in political activism, the power of art, personal betrayal and sexism in the midst of revolution.
But while Jean Chan’s fluid set of moveable jade-coloured screens and vivid back projections helps to balance decades of seismic events with the human story of Madame Mao and theatre director Sun Weishi, there’s no getting away from the fact that much of the 80 minute run-time feels like homework.
Ibsen’s heroine Nora – and the slamming door – are used throughout as a touchstone for female emancipation versus sexist mores, so it’s ironic that it is Lan Ping who becomes utterly trapped and silenced when she marries Mao – and winds up in prison making dolls.
Meanwhile, it’s only the protection of her powerful adoptive father – Mao’s number two Zhou Enlai – that enables Weishi to become China’s first female director of modern drama, even if he can’t shield her from sexual violence or Madame Mao’s vengeful purges.
In Ng’s two-hander, the two women first swear allegiance before politics and individual choices force them apart.
But too often the duo are debating political ideas amid historic shifts of civil war, occupation, famine and revolution at the expense of evoking a believable intimate, female friendship.
It ends with footage of the real life figures which packs an emotional charge that’s often lacking in previous exchanges, but still it’s welcome to learn more about the people behind this terrible period in Chinese history.
Shanghai Dolls runs at Kiln Theatre Kilburn until May 10.
