Chinese Whispers is a show about identity, set in London, at the start of the 21st century. In this Babelicious city where daily, over 300 languages are spoken - arguably the most multicultural city in the world - it asks the questions:
“Who am I? Where are you from? Why are we here? What makes us laugh? and Which would you rather be, Hamlet or Buffy the Vampire Slayer?”
In Britain today, it's all about your roots, your identity / but there's banana bio yoghurts over there who've got more live culture than me / I've got to get out of this place / I'm having a negative epiphany in the dairy section of Tescos / Double disgrace to my race / a crisis of Chineseness surrounded by cheese…
We spoke English at home, not because my dad was the big white chief / but because English is what you speak when you're all from different places / In my family we were all strangers, I mean emotionally it was like the bar in Star Wars…
So, where could we go from here? We could go anywhere / To the palace of the Jade Emperor, in the rainforest with ipecacuana / Right here, now, me and you, we could open the door To something new, something no-one else has ever thought before…
Written and performed by Francesca Beard
From a collaboration with:
Director: Arlette Kim George, and
Composer: Piers Faccini
Visual Artist: Jason Larkin
Lighting design: Flick Ansell
Costume: Maharishi
Producer: Geraldine Collinge
Commissioned and developed by Apples & Snakes and Battersea Arts Centre. Supported by Arts Council England and decibel.