The Show
The year is 1912. Sir Claude MacDonald has come to your house/venue to give a talk to the local branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Sir Claude was the British Minister Plenipotentiary, i.e. ambassador, to Peking in 1900 during the famous Boxer Uprising and commanded the defence of the Legations (diplomatic quarter) when they were besieged by the peasant ‘Boxer’ army, supported by Imperial Chinese troops. The siege lasted 55 days and was lifted by the arrival of a multinational relief force. The episode was described in the newspapers of the day as ‘the most exciting episode ever known to civilization’. It was also the subject of the 1963 epic film, '55 Days at Peking', with Charlton Heston and David Niven.
Sir Claude wants to talk to his audience about China and the West ‘today’. (That’s 1912 for him, and today for us.) 1912 was the year of the foundation of the Republic of China, a new country, in the ascendant, one the rest of the world will have to accommodate… you see the parallel.
But he starts by ‘taking you back to Peking’ in 1900 with a lantern slide show and an account of his experience during the siege. Just as he reaches a critical point in his story, by a sleight of a theatrical hand the audience becomes a foreign delegation waiting for an audience in the Imperial Palace in Peking in 1900. The fighting at the Legations can be clearly heard in the near distance. The audience hear the Chinese side of the story. It is not straightforward, and the speaker does not pull his punches (to use an appropriate metaphor). Another critical juncture is arrived at and the audience is whisked back to the lecture venue where the story is neatly concluded by a third character, with a surprising twist.
To say more would require a spoiler alert. In summary, the three characters, all of whom charm the audience in their own way, each present their particular – and authentic – view of the events, without quite realising how interconnected they each are as individuals.
Format
The show lasts for 70 mins and is followed after an interval by a Q and A session. It is suitable for children 14 years and above. There is some strong language (mostly in Chinese), the sounds of battle, and a gunshot is fired, subject to approval. One of the characters portrayed is Chinese.
The Q and A session, about the modern-day situation between China and the West, is as much part of the evening as the show itself.
Mark has a degree in Chinese from SOAS and lived in China for 18 years. He speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. He performed with the Shanghai People's Arts Theatre and other Chinese companies. He returned to the UK in 2013 and is an actor and writer. He has published two books and many articles on China.