Chimerica review, Almeida Theatre

Lucy Kirkwood's last play, NSFW, explored the underbelly of exploitative journalism. The thesis was that both men and women's magazines have a misogynistic approach to the female form. Chimerica (a mix of China/America and used to describe their relationship) is a play that explores the complexities and contradictions of modern China, a behemoth that is courted by the institutions of capitalism, rather than rushing towards them, tail wagging, like the other BRIC nations. The driver of the story, however, is again an exploitative journalist: this time an American war photographer called Joe Schofield.

China blight

It's the 2012 US election. Joe is sent to China for a feature on cheap labour. While there, he visits friend, Zhang Lin, whose wife was killed in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. During dinner Lin tells him that the man for whom the tanks stopped during the protest, an iconic moment linked to the 'new' China, is still alive. The image by Jeff Widener (left) is recognised the world over. For the purposes of the play, it is Joe's photograph, and Zhang Lin's story triggers a hunger to identify the historic figure and put himself back on the map. Without stopping to consider the effect on his friend's safety in Beijing, Schofield crashes around like a bull in a China soap, unmasking innocent illegals in New York, blackmailing a senator, and compromising his relationship with marketeer, Tessa, a relationship that literally mirrors the love story of Zhang Lin and his wife. With Joe too busy to notice, whither hope?

Kirkwood has an enviable gift for plays with big ideas. Her weakness is that she doesn't much seem to like people. Her characters are ciphers for a bigger message. Here, as with NSFW, even the goodies are unreliable. There is nobody who inspires empathy. The staging, which may have photographic references, doesn't help. Monochrome images - except for the Tiananmen Square massacre - are projected onto a cubed set to show we're in Beijing or New York. The cube spins, opening onto small rooms in which big conversations are had. All rooms are grey. There is no sense of geography, of time, of culture, or of movement. We're in a void. The only cultural references are a wok on the stove in China and a cushioned sofa in New York. It must be hard to act in a space without visual or physical oxygen. Well done, Cast.

In conclusion: Stephen Campbell Moore and Benedict Wong are great leads, but the play needs surgery. The New York media characters, including Tessa, are extra to requirement and slow down what could be a really tight and exciting political, cultural and ethical whodunnit featuring Joe and Zhang Lin, instead of tipping too often into a didactic whocares.

References
Almeida Theatre, Tickets
Michael Billington review in The Guardian
Ian Shuttleworth review in the FT

Almeida Theatre, Almeida Street, London N1 1TA  Run ends 6 July, with a transfer to the Harold Pinter Theatre in August