The Silk Road (kinda) played at the 2024 Wanstead Fringe. Review by Camille Leadbeater.
Upstairs at The Bull, one of our Fringe theatre venues, 7pm, Wednesday night. A young woman sits on the floor in the corner of the stage, dressed in exotically in harem pants and draped in a long shawl. She looks otherworldly and out of place as she flicks through modern travel magazines. Another young woman enters the stage. Dressed equally elaborately but this time in traditional Han-Dynasty clothing, she begins to sing in Chinese, reciting a verse from Peking Opera. Opera fans and aficionados may recognise them as Salome – the princess of Judea and titular character in Oscar Wilde’s play turned opera, and Yuji – a self-sacrificing concubine in Peking Opera.
The Silk Road (Kinda) is an original play written and produced by Aimee Yue. It stars Aimee as Yuji and Megan Winstanley as Salome and is a marvellously inventive and immersive take on intercultural theatre writing. Merging characters and themes from two famous Operas with very different cultural histories, the action takes place in a waiting room where Salome and Yuji are offered a ‘once in a death-time opportunity’ to leave behind the stories written for them and go on a relaxing vacation forever.
As ‘beloved theatrical characters’, they have died countless times for our entertainment. The drama ensues as they navigate conflict over their decision. Never before have they actually had a choice other than what has been scripted for them. During this show, they realise that they are more similar to each other than they may initially think. Aside from a shared use of fans for subtle communicative possibilities, they are also tragically overlooked in their respective operatic sequences. Flimsy and hollow backstories characterise their similar coercion into mere plot devices to fuel the development of their male counterparts. As a result they strike up an unlikely feminist friendship.
Here, Aimee cleverly centres the female characters and the nature of femininity within traditional Opera – both Eastern and Western. Salome, probably the more recognisable here to UK audiences, receives little ‘fleshing out’ in Wilde’s original concept. We know her as seductive and rebellious, her flirtatious manner and exotic dance routines making her a caricature of the ‘New Victorian Woman’. The exploitative relationship between Salome and her father is little explored in the opera but here it is rather revelatory. Winstanley is vibrant, witty and full of charm as this headstrong Salome. Her desire to be somewhere where ‘he [her father] can’t reach’ is touching and painful, and yet despite her desperate enthusiasm to escape she cannot relinquish her desire for control. This is explored through her attempt to coerce Yuji into accepting her choice of destination. Yuji berates Salome for asking for ‘everything in the world, like the world is yours’.
We, as audience, cannot help but pity Salome as she asks ‘Oscar Wilde – why did you make me like this?” Yue’s writing cleverly manipulates the portrayal of Salome as a villain. Of course, notorious for beheading the prophet Jokanaan and dancing with the head, Yue poses how this is merely Wilde’s characterisation of a female figure with a much deeper psyche. Being killed by her own father countless times on stage, has clearly given her enough opportunity to regret her choices, not to mention irrevocable daddy issues.
Yuji, on the other hand, whilst also a tragic heroine is much less vilified. Famous for committing suicide upon hearing of the impending loss of her lover, she is presented as timid, utterly devoted and fiercely loyal. The issue is, she doesn’t know why she loves him. Again, this is a female figure with a traditionally poorly fleshed out backstory. Like Salome, she has been employed as a plot device driving the narratives of her male counterparts – ‘you killed yourself for a man and you think that’s romantic?’ What’s so striking about this play is that it takes the focus away from the men. It gives these female operatic stars a long-deserved voice, and more crucially, choice. ‘The past was only practice’ sign the two leads, as they contemplate a life away from the stage.
This is a delightful and layered show from a hugely talented young writer. Both actresses fully embody their roles, poising between conflict and hope. The vocals are magnificent, the dance routines superb. This is certainly something the Wanstead Fringe has never seen before – and we are lucky to have it!