Writers and Directors: Jiaxin Du and Qiuyang Yu
A celebrated influencer is about to launch her memoir. Engagement is good, and fans want to know about her childhood (“people will eat that up,” she’s told). She’s working on her white laptop and seems to “have it all”. But something is wrong. We see her struggling under a veil while voices ask questions like “How have you achieved so much at such a young age?” A mysterious masked figure wanders around the room and insists she write about her childhood. “I can’t tell what I can’t remember,” the influencer protests.
The designs by Sihan Xu and Yiyun Miao make the room feel bigger and airier than it is. The set and matching costumes (wide-legged trousers and sleeveless tops) are all white: paper on the walls and floor, pale cotton for the clothes. The minimal props (also white) include a length of rope, used to skip and to strangle, and to enact a tug-of-war between the protagonist’s reason and emotion, her perfect image and her authentic self. The veil becomes a mirror, a wall, a blanket.
Shucan Huang plays the influencer, known only as “E”, with impressive focus and commitment. As she relives her childhood towards the end of the play, tears shine on her cheeks. Shiwei Chen plays A, the main character’s childhood self. “How are you?” is effectively the question this play raises, and the answer seems to be “not fine”. E’s automatic and repeated reply of “I’m fine” turns out to be a lie. The strain of presenting a persona to the world (“Success is really about doing a lot of things you don’t want to do”) proves too much, raising past regrets. “Why am I like this? A monster without a heart?” asks E. Her younger self resurfaces to teach her the real value of feelings, family and reconnecting with the past.
Playwrights Jiaxin Du and Qiuyang Yu also direct and produce the play. Lyon Chan, as translation consultant, has helped to produce a relatively idiomatic, if not very imaginative, script. There is striking original music by Xishu Zhao, evocative sound design by Yuchen Liu, and correspondingly dramatic physical sequences, directed by Ruyu Li. These sections of dance are highlights of the show: Delicate, demonstrative movements, expressing more emotion than most of the slightly bland and clichéd text.
A letter in Chinese and English addressed “Dear Audience” is handed out to people coming to see the play. It spells out some themes the writers feel might resonate, “a story that may not only belong to our protagonist.” They thank the audience for “spending fifty minutes of your life to come watch our show.” These two young performers are graceful, charming and hard-working. Their script is sometimes banal, but there are hints of something more theatrically interesting in the striking elements of physical theatre.
Runs until 20 August 2026
Camden Fringe 2026 runs until 30 August
