The Dream of Being a Madame – Omnibus Theatre, London

Writer: Qi Wang

Director: Cameron Ablimit

The Dream of Being a Madame introduces us to May and Lairs, two women whose friendship begins with a chance encounter at a Ryman’s. What starts as a simple act of kindness quickly evolves into a complex friendship that challenges their differing values and perspectives.

Whilst they both share a love for literature, the pair face growing tensions as their contrasting lifestyles come into focus. May faces working-class financial struggles as she works in a café while Lairs is unabashedly vocal about her desire for a man to provide for her. As Lairs enters into a tumultuous relationship with a man more than three decades her senior, May is forced to question how much she can tolerate her friend’s constant impulsive decisions and flippant attitude.

The narrative focuses on Lairs’ problematic relationship with George, which distracts from the potentially more compelling exploration of the friendship between May and Lairs. The time jumps throughout the play, intended to add pace, often result in abrupt scene changes that disrupt the flow and leave the audience with an anticlimactic and unresolved ending.

Cameron Ablimit’s direction is uneven, with distracting blocking that sees Lairs sometimes entering and exiting through the audience unnecessarily. The play’s sudden shifts in tone from drama to comedy lead to an overall lack of cohesion in genre. Xu, Li’s flimsy interpretation of Lairs is a believable, impulsive and naïve character, whilst Joyce Lim creates a grounded counterpart. They have a good onstage chemistry, but their performances are inconsistent, playing for laughs in odd moments.

For a play that aims to explore themes of feminism and the tensions in friendships formed across contrasting perspectives, The Dream of Being a Madame fails to delve deeply enough into these themes to leave a lasting impression.

Reviewed on 14 September 2024