Lucy Kirkwood (1) (1984–)

This play, which has received rave reviews in the London press, ended its second run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in Soho on October 19th, after a very successful initial run at the Almeida Theatre this summer. The term Chimerica was coined by authors Niall Ferguson and Moritz Schularick, which was meant to describe the mutually dependent but uneasy and tense relationship between China and the United States.

In the play Chimerica, the key character is the so-called "Tank Man", who stood in front of a line of tanks during the Tiananmen Square uprising and massacre that took place in 1989, and who became a worldwide symbol for the bravery exhibited by ordinary Chinese citizens who stood up for freedom and against government repression on that fateful day. Joe Schofield (played by Stephen Campbell Moore) was a 19 year old American photographer who was in a hotel room overlooking the square that day, and his photograph of the Tank Man gained him immediate fame. The performance opens with that dramatic scene, then fast forwards to 2012, as Joe has become a self-righteous and idealistic yet jaded photojournalist for a New York based magazine. In the final days of the 2012 US presidential campaign he decides to embark on a quest for the Tank Man, with the help of Mel Stanwick (Sean Gilder), his bombastic and even more crude journalist buddy, and Zhang Lin (Benedict Wong), a teacher who participated in the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square as an 18 year old student along with his new wife Liuli (Elizabeth Chan), where he first met Joe. Joe views the Tank Man as one of the great heroes of the 20th century, and after he receives a tip that he is now living in NYC he embarks on a crusade to uncover his hidden identity and restore him to his rightful place as a great man, by any means necessary. On a plane ride from New York to Beijing he and Mel meet Tessa Kendrick (Claudie Blakely), a British consultant for a large company seeking to establish itself in the Chinese market, and the two become off and on lovers.

The action swings rapidly back and forth between the US and China throughout the play, as Zhang Lin has flashbacks to that tragic day in 1989. Zhang tries to help Joe in his single minded quest, as he simultaneously protests against the government and its policies, putting his career and life in serious danger. Joe and Mel pursue one lead after another to find the Tank Man, and Joe's efforts put his career and his relationship with Tessa in jeopardy.

Although I thought Chimerica was very well done I didn't enjoy it as much as the critics did, due to my dislike of Joe's self centered and at times immature behavior and the shallowness of Tessa, although Lucy Kirkwood clearly intended for them to be portrayed in this manner and the actors did a superb job of playing their roles effectively. Nonetheless it was a play that covered a lot of ground and pulled no punches, while providing no easy answers to the difficult relationship between the two superpowers, its heroes and ordinary citizens who speak out against injustice and for personal freedom.… (más)