'Through video and photos, Yang takes audiences from the streets of Beijing, where electronics superstores jostle with echoes of the Cultural Revolution and the Ming Dynasty, to the sacred mountain Huang Shan, a must-climb for every Chinese pilgrim-tourist; from a wild night in a Mongolian herdsman's hut, to the apartments of ordinary Chinese, a few months after the Tiananmen incident. His wryly sensitive perspective, eye for detail and arresting images come together with Nicholas Ng's haunting live score for the erhu (Chinese violin) and pipa (Chinese lute), in an unforgettable theatrical experience.
'China' is Yang's ninth monologue performance, in a career that has seen him become Australia's most toured performing artist. As always, Yang's work is part social documentary and part personal observation, creating a meditative space and a journey of reflection for performer and audience alike. With 'China', Yang explores the personal story of an Australian-born Chinese who is a stranger in his homeland, while at the same time asking big questions about the meaning of culture, of heritage and of belonging.' Source: www.melbournefestival.com.au/2007_program/ (Sighted 02/10/2007).
First produced by the Performance Space at carriageworks, Eveleigh, on 21 March 2007
Production Manager: Gordon Rymer.
Produced by Griffin Theatre Company at the SBW Stables Theatre, Kings Cross, 19 January - 8 February 2008, as an umbrella event of City of Sydney’s 2008 Chinese New Year Festival.
Performer: William Yang.
Musician: Nicholas Ng.
