REVIEW: UNDER THE UMBRELLA
The stark concrete-styled staging for new production Under the Umbrella really didn’t giveaway any of the stories that was about to unfold.
The all-female cast (complimented by all-female, directing, producing and set design) was brought together under the Sustained Theatre Regional Associate Producer programme IGNITE. The scheme has created four associate producers who are leading on creating a new production. The Belgrade’s’ Lian Wilkinson came up with the idea of Under the Umbrella after seeing a video that went viral about the Chinese Marriage Markets and parents who go to their local parks with the dating profiles of their children.
The show starts with Wei and best friend Lucy. In their late twenties, the pair have fun singing and dancing, going out and being, seemingly, carefree. Wei is recovering in her flat in Coventry from her 27th birthday celebrations when a call from Wei’s home back in Guangzhou, China interrupts her sleep.
The story unfolds between Wei’s western home in the West Midlands; going out clubbing with Lucy, working through her Ph.D. in the lab; to her mom and grandmother’s attempts to find Wei a husband before she is labeled a ‘leftover’ woman (or shengnu). All this takes place on the stark stage where subtle lighting and minimal props cleverly transport us between the two continents and reveal the differences, and similarities, of women’s issues, family life and expectations.
The wider issues of the Chinese one-child policy, superstition and legacy play out throughout the performance are presented cleverly with the small four-person cast.
The umbrella itself plays a significant role; from Wei’s mother Dong, who visits the marraige market daily to try and sell the attributes of her daughter by pinning her ‘enhanced’ profile on her umbrella; to a prop used by the actors to change through each scene.
At mid-point, the play takes a more dramatic turn when the past child-rearing choices of Wei’s mother and grandmother come back to haunt them. There’s a change in pace too as Wei and Lucy’s relationship breaks down.
Under the Umbrella is a story of our time, of the #MeToo era, when women, while having more choice than ever, are still struggling to take control of their own lives when a career can take precedence above motherhood and friendships are challenged.
Presented in partnership with Tamasha and Yellow Earth Theatre, the new production sets out to shine a light on East Asian stories, some of the least represented on UK stages.
You can listen to interviews about the production at Belgrade Theatre’s Soundcloud page here.
