MAY 35TH at Southwark Playhouse Elephant

★★★½

“an important and extremely moving piece of theatre”

Next month marks 35 years since the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989. In an act of memoriam and collective consciousness raising, Stage June Fourth, with support from Arts Council England and Amnesty International, are producing the first English language adaptation of a play inspired by witness testimony.

May 35th tells the story of an elderly couple whose son, Ah Ping, was killed in Tiananmen Square. May 35th is the codename for the event, as still, references to June 4 are censored on Chinese social media. Decades later, as they both face their own mortality, their dying wish is to hold a ritual for him in the place he was murdered.

Written by Candace Chong Mui Ngam, a Chinese playwright from Hong Kong, it is based on interviews and real-life stories of parents whose children were killed in the massacre. In the week that 14 pro-democracy activists were found guilty under Hong Kong’s new national security laws, imposed by Beijing, it is a timely reminder of the ramifications of Tiananmen into the present day.

Set solely in parents Siu Lum and Ah Dai’s small apartment, design by Hong Kong-style Pineapple Bun with Butter had a fitting mix of crumbling upper walls and more brightly painted lower thirds that got across both the horrors and more touching moments the apartment had seen over their lifetime. Almost imperceptible transformations at scene changes, such as additions of layers of knitwear, and the appearance and disappearance of a poster to Chairman Mao, demonstrate the passing of time and delineate between contemporary scenes and flashbacks.

Despite the frailty of the couple, they both brim with deep set anger over the senseless, evil violence done to him and all the victims of the massacre. In a particularly memorable scene, Siu Lum is tied to chair by Ah Dai, who is trying to stop her from rashly reacting to her son’s death. The power of her words and delivery, speaking about her anguish over her son’s death, not knowing what had happened to him, not being able to see his body and grieve his death, it utterly transfixing.

Contrasted with this is her husband, whose reticence to act for fear of repercussions from the CCP is a source of tension. But as we witness the couple in their heart-breaking final days, and wonder whether Siu Lum will make it to see her wish of lighting a candle for her son in the square, any doubts about Ah Dai’s devotion are redeemed.

May 35th is no doubt an important and extremely moving piece of theatre telling the story of the massacre. As emphasised by the CEO of Amnesty International and Zhou Fengsuo, executive director of Human Rights in China and President of Humanitarian China in an aftershow talk, shows like this can help support global activism and international support for Human Rights, truth and justice in China today.

MAY 35TH at Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Reviewed on 30th May 2024

by Amber Woodward

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:

FUN AT THE BEACH ROMP-BOMP-A-LOMP!! | ★★★ | May 2024

SAPPHO | ★★ | May 2024

CAPTAIN AMAZING | ★★★★★ | May 2024

WHY I STUCK A FLARE UP MY ARSE FOR ENGLAND | ★★★★★ | April 2024

SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE VALLEY OF FEAR | ★★½ | March 2024

POLICE COPS: THE MUSICAL | ★★★★ | March 2024

CABLE STREET – A NEW MUSICAL | ★★★ | February 2024

BEFORE AFTER | ★★★ | February 2024

AFTERGLOW | ★★★★ | January 2024

UNFORTUNATE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF URSULA THE SEA WITCH A MUSICAL PARODY | ★★★★ | December 2023

GARRY STARR PERFORMS EVERYTHING | ★★★½ | December 2023

LIZZIE | ★★★ | November 2023

MANIC STREET CREATURE | ★★★★ | October 2023

MAY 35th

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★★★★

“short and sweet with a clear and precise character arc and message”

Madeleine (Eleanor Greene) is a spoilt Gen Z teen living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan channelling a little bit of Blair Waldorf mixed with a heavy dose of Julia Fox – and actually more than a passing resemblance to a blend of them both too. At sixteen, she acts much older than she is; thinking it’s impressive to get into nightclubs underage and spewing #girlboss mantras like ‘everybody is a business, and life’s moments are a marketing opportunity’. She’s pretty despicable, but in a conscious ‘love-to-hate-her’ sort of way.

Because whilst she may be financially privileged, she’s also had to grow up fast. Between diatribes about the losers in her private school milieu and boasts about how popular she is with boys, we learn that Madeleine’s mother is never around, and no mention of a father-figure. Madeleine convincingly tells us she would much prefer a mum who she doesn’t see for weeks, who leaves the house for SoulCycle at 5am before her job at the hedge fund, because that’s boss bitch energy. It’s easy to see through the bravado.

But what Madeleine is really here to tell us about is what happened to her friend Maria last year at the annual house party where senior boys select a freshman girl each to have sex with. It’s reminiscent of the Brock Turner case from 2016, where a Stanford swimmer was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman at a frat party. Whilst one might assume that the #metoo movement that closely followed this case and subsequent cultural conversations about consent might have made things more transparent for young women exploring their sexuality. But much of what Madeleine and Maria experience as adolescents feels all too familiar, despite the generational divide between her and the majority of the audience.

The slight edge in this piece is the exploration of Madeleine’s potential complicity in what happened. In her blasé manner she makes it clear nothing is her fault. But perhaps she can’t countenance that she may have been partly to blame for what happened to her friend.

Eleanor Greene has confidence and ease on stage, comfortable indulging in the quiet moments to build tension as she scrolls tiktok, takes selfies for Snapchat, or replies to her boyfriend, with the ridiculous name Braxton Dupont. Her constant refrain ‘I have to take this’, whenever she gets a message about the plans for the club later is hilarious. Collaborating with Director Alex Prescot, they get the privilege teen apathy vibe bang on, particularly through the choice of Lana Del Ray hits that accompany the tiktok doom scroll.

Girls Really Listen to Me is short and sweet with a clear and precise character arc and message. Whilst it may be difficult at first to have any empathy for this privileged princess from the off, its exploration of adolescence and womanhood proves there is more unity to be found than first meets the eye.

MAY 35TH at Southwark Playhouse Elephant

★★★½

“an important and extremely moving piece of theatre”

MAY 35TH at Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Reviewed on 30th May 2024

by Amber Woodward

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:

MAY 35th

MAY 35th

GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME at the Pleasance Theatre

★★★★

“short and sweet with a clear and precise character arc and message”

GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME at the Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed on 20th May 2024

by Amber Woodward

Previously reviewed at this venue:

GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME

GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME

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