Marking the 35th anniversary of the pro-democracy protest and massacre at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 4th 1989, May 35th by Hongkonger Candace Chong Mui Ngam receives its English language premiere, presented by Stage June Fourth supported by Amnesty International UK. Based on interviews and real-life stories of parents who lost children at Tiananmen Square, May 35th is the story of an elderly couple whose dying wish is to hold a proper ritual for their dead son in the place where he was murdered by the state 35 years ago. We spoke to director Kim Pearce
What is May 35th about?
May 35th is about love, loss, rage and time. Whilst China moves on through the decades, the main characters Siu Lum and Ah Dai remain, emotionally frozen, in 1989 when their son was murdered by the state during the Tiananmen Massacre. They have not been allowed the space to grieve for him openly, or even obtain justice for him. However, their approaching mortality emboldens them, and the play takes on the structure of a thriller. Do they have enough time and health left to achieve their goal? It’s a play that asks big searching questions. A lot of people who fight for human rights across the world know that they could face hard consequences and that they may not see victory in their lifetime. How then do you find the strength to carry on? How do you pass your fight on to the next generation in a struggle of this magnitude?
The playwright, Candace Chong Mui Ngam interviewed the Tiananmen Mothers for this play. This is an organisation of bereaved parents who have campaigned for justice for their children for 35 years. Not many are left alive, and they face state harassment every year around the anniversary. We’re staging this production at this time, leading up to the fateful date of June 4th, as a way of giving voice to all those who have been silenced every year at this time.
Could you share your journey with May 35th and getting it to the stage in London?
I first encountered the play when I eagerly watched the Hong Kong production when it was shared via digital broadcast in 2020. I was profoundly moved by the play but never dreamed I’d be directing it.
I was asked to join the team in January, and it’s been full steam ahead making sure we have the funding and everything else we need in place to deliver the production in time for the 35th anniversary.
The idea was that I would be a bit of a bridge between the recently arrived HK theatre makers on the show and the UK theatre system. In reality, it’s not like that- it’s just full-on trusting
collaboration, with everyone bringing everything they’ve got, informed by the passion of how it important it is to make this production happen.
Given the sensitive nature of the subject matter and the potential political risks involved, what challenges did you encounter during the production process, and how did you navigate them?
I feel resistant to calling it a ‘sensitive’ subject matter. That’s the language of the power trying to silence people. We’re talking about a very straightforward truth; as the playwright puts it in her program note, ‘we disapprove of tyranny, we care about people.’ What’s sensitive about that? Where sensitivity lies is in making sure our team is well informed and feels ok with the level of risk they are taking on. It’s really important to us that people make their own choices about that, and then that we implement those faithfully.
I’ve worked in this arena across multiple productions. Independently producing theatre in our precarious industry is very hard on its own. Add on the strain of political risk, and the outsider status that can often go hand in hand with that, it can feel like too much. For example, those artists facing real political risk in this country are most often of migrant status. There’s a lack of real understanding of how to work supportive
On a very pragmatic level, marketing has been hard- we’re not in a position to share visuals of actors from our making process, because the cast has chosen to be anonymous. What buoys you up in these circumstances is community, and June 4th Stage Company, the exiled HK theatre company producing this show is part of a very strong community. The Hong Kong theatre makers on this show are very resilient, they have more experience with this and when it gets mentally tough, they share that resilience.
As the director, what do you hope audiences will take away from their experience of watching May 35th?
It depends which audience you are talking about! For what we call local audiences, I really hope this contributes to an ongoing process of humanising China to them. The UK’s relationship with China is in the news a lot at the moment, and it’s easy for that to skew into sinophobia (just look at what happened with COVID related racism.) This is a play that was written by a Hong Konger with longing for freedom for Chinese people. It’s about shared humanity and love. China is not a monolith, and some of the most inspiring human rights activists come from within that country- just look at the Tiananmen Mothers. As for the many Hong Kongers who will be in the audience- I’m a little apprehensive. This is a deeply loved play that will at first feel quite unfamiliar. I hope they take this English language version as an act of recognition and solidarity. We stand with you.
I hope everyone will come away from this show with a renewed sense of the preciousness of your own freedoms, and empathy for the tragedy of when they are denied to others. To go from this show opening to a rapturous response in Hong Kong in 2019 to it being too dangerous to stage it there 5 turbulent years later. It’s mind boggling. I think this play preserves a part of the soul of that place- come and share in keeping it alive.
The stage is a powerful platform for social commentary and activism. How do you see theatre contributing to conversations about human rights and democracy?
Theatre can be a powerful platform for social commentary and activism- but the stage? Which stage? Where? And who controls access to those resources? If its activism and social commentary, what should we be paid for making it and how much should we charge for tickets. Theatre is an important part of protest, but when it moves into buildings with box offices it becomes something else. Activism can sit quite oddly with the world of contracts, agents and the other trappings of the formal industry.
In the work I have made so far, I’ve generally approached theatre as a reflective space that sits along side activism, where we can delve in a different way. We coax people who wouldn’t normally engage with theses issue by activating their emotions. It can also be used for provocation and getting message across. May 35th is a really good example of this.
What aspects of the production process do you find most rewarding or memorable?
I really like working with actors. I’m lucky enough to have been able to bring together my dream cast for this play. I’m really excited about the set design and my creative team is just the best, so we’re really aiming to create a high quality evening in the theatre.
May 35th runs at Southward Playhouse Elephant from 29 May – 1 June https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/may-35th/
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