Optional Supplemental/Background Information
The following information gives some contextual information about the play including details about the playwright and the history of the story and the original production. It is intended for you to use as much or as little as interests you and is in no way required for you to be familiar with it in regards to our discussions.
SCOTT’S TAKE
I had known Lucy Kirkwood’s play CHIMERICA by reputation for many years before I had actually read it. She had been awarded the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (a prestigious award given to women who have written an exceptional play for the theatre) for CHIMERICA in 2014. (Past winners include THE NETHER and THE FLICK.) The play also won the Olivier award for Best New Play in 2014. The Guardian had named it one of the 25 Best Plays of the 21st-Century (along with ENRON) as well as number 10 in the 50 Best Theatre Shows of the 21st-Century. However, it wasn’t until last year that I finally read the play.
For a three-hour play, I was surprised by how quickly it moved along. It’s the kind of play that is hard to describe in a way that also doesn’t make it sound boring. While it feels like a big play, it’s actually quite manageable in regards to production. Even though there’s a long character list and a cast list of 12, the majority of scenes are 2-handers (2 character scenes) and are very tight and efficient. It read like a detective novel or a thriller, was very funny, and had an ending that paid off lived up to all that came before it. I became a big fan of the play on the spot and would love an opportunity to direct it.
Lucy adapted the play into a 4-part series for Channel 4 television in 2019 and updated it from 2012-2016 in order to incorporate the rise of Trump and his fiery position on China. I have a copy of the series, if you are interested after our discussion. I will have to do some work to figure out how to share it with you.
There is some excellent material below, but I would most highly recommend the FRONTLINE documentary on the Tank Man as it gives a great context for the play.
Lucy’s play, THE CHILDREN, was also listed on the top of the 21st-Century lists and will probably show up in a future volume of Play Dates if they continue. We were also scheduled to see her most recent play, THE WELKIN, at the National on our cancelled Loose In London excursion.
MEDIA: Print
MEDIA: Video
Dan Rebellato Interview with Lucy Kirkwood.
GLOSSARY
Kate Adie - Chief News Correspondent for BBC News.
"“…three hundred Chinese people being gunned down…” - The official estimate by the Chinese government of those killed during the Tiananmen Square protest is 241. Documents released in 2017 by the British government and the UK ambassador to China t the time place the number at over 10,000.
Zelda Fitzgerald - American socialite, novelist and dancer. Wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald and maintained a heated dispute with Ernest Hemingway over her husband’s declining literary output. Was diagnosed as schizophrenic at the age of 30 and would not be considered to have been diagnosed as bi-polar.
Baozi - Also called bao. Filled bun that is often steamed.
Scheisse - Feces or shit.
“I like to kiss very much,” she said. “But I do not do it well.” - From FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS by Ernest Hemingway.
“Desole, monsieur, je ne peux pas vous aider.” - “Sorry, sir, I cannot help you.”
Public Security Bureau - Local security offices that oversee public safety. Though local in nature, they report to the larger national Ministry of State Security which has a long history of human rights abuses.
Gibbet - An instrument of public execution used as a deterrent for other crimes.
Xie xie - “Thank you.
Netball - Women’s sport similar to basketball mainly played in the UK and its former colonies. There are 7 players instead of 5, the netted hoop is at the same height as a basketball hoop, but with no backboard, there is no dribbling, and players have 3 seconds to shoot or pass the ball.
The Stone Roses - Rock band from Manchester dormed in the 1980’s.
Huand Xiaoming - Chinese actor, singer, and model born in 1977.
I WANT TO BECOME A STEWARDESS - Chinese television drama that ran in 2014.
Hildy Johnson - Fictitious reporter from the newspaper comedy THE FRONT PAGE.
Beijing EVening News - Chinese tabloid newspaper.
Yuan - Chinese currency. 1 yuan is worth about $0.16.
Triad - Chinese international crime syndicate.
Garment District - Area between Fifth Avenue and Ninth Avenue, from 34th to 42nd Streets in NYC.
Wobbly - To become very angry or upset. Tantrum.
Chintz - Printed (usually woodblock) textile traditionally from India.
Kodak ergo sum - I take pictures, therefore, I am.
Guanxi - Having personal trust in and a strong relationship with someone.
“Through Cooperation the Electric Light was Fixed”
Mod-cons - Modern conveniences; the machines and devices, such as washing machines and refrigerators, that make the ordinary jobs in a home easier.
Tabard - Sleeveless garment consisting only of front and back pieces with a hole for the head worn as the outer dress of medieval peasants.
Chicken dippers - Chicken nuggets.
Xi Jinping - General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and President of the People's Republic of China since 2013.
Assad - Bashar al-Assad; President of Syria.
The People’s Daily - Largest newspaper in China and the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party.
Jiffy bag - Padded manila mailing envelope.
“bindersful of women” - "I had the chance to pull together a cabinet, and all the applicants seemed to be men. [...] I went to a number of women's groups and said, 'Can you help us find folks?' And they brought us whole binders full of women." - Mitt Romney during 2nd Presidential Debate. Romney was widely mocked for the phrase which was depicted as being demeaning and tone deaf towards “women’s issues.”
“Augustus, sweetheart, save some room for later.” - from WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.
Peter Luger’s - Considered an institution by many, Peter Luger’s Steakhouse was once named the best steakhouse in New York by Zagat’s. It’s known for its huge portions (a porterhouse steak that serves 4, and its cash-only payments.
Kettling - Police tactic for containing large crowds by setting large numbers of officers in a formation that either surrounds the protesters or forces them into a smaller, contained area.
Howard Greenberg - Iconic gallery whose focus is highlighting some of the greatest and most famous photographic images ever captured.
MEDIA: Photos
FRONTLINE Documentary on the Tank Man and Tiananmen Square.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
THEATRE
2005 - Grady Hot Potato
2006 - Geronimo (The Umbilical Project)
2007 - Guns or Butter
2008 - Tinderbox
2008 - 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
2008 - Hedda
2009 - it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now
2009 - Psychochoreography
2010 - Beauty and the Beast
2012 - NSFW
2013 - Chimerica
2016 - The Children
2107 - Mosquitos
2020 - The Welkin