“…It was a time of hope in China which came to a brutal end with a violent government crackdown which began on the night preceding 4 June 1989…”
In the 1980’s, a democracy movement gathered pace in China, culminating around a million people occupying Tiananmen Square, Beijing alongside protest action in multiple cities across the country. In the 30 years since, the government of the People’s Republic of China has erased this event from their history.
British East Asian playwrights, actors, theatre-makers and creatives exploring the themes of protest, press freedom and human rights; and how this living memory impacts the artists’ personal identity and today’s political world.
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Tiananmen 30
To mark the 30th anniversary of the protest in Tiananmen Square, the brutal crackdown of the democracy movement in China 1984, British East Asian artists unite in London to present a 5-hour programme of political theatre.
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1 Jun 2019 5pm – 10pm
Omnibus Theatre, London
“This evening presents the voices of the British East Asian and East Asian diaspora artists, reflecting on the events of 1989 in the context of today’s politics, and audience members will encounter powerful lived experiences, rarely heard in the West.”
- Clarissa Widya, Artistic Director
Performances
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'Zero Four Zero Six Zero Four Zero Zero'
- Lucy Chau Lai-Tuen, monologue
'Directions' - Isabella Leung, poem
'A Personal Protest' - Naomi Yang, monologue
'The Square Of Eight' - Jennifer Lim, poem
'VIIV' - Jennifer Lim, poem
'But hey…' - Tony Tang, monologue
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'June 4th Backdrop' - Daniel York Loh, spoken word
'Some Thing In Between' - Isabella Leung, poem
'Mirage'
- devised work
'The Woman Of Tiananmen Square'
- Kathryn Golding, monologue
‘Clouds over Beijing’
Exhibition
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Essay and photographs - Gregory Lee
HK Tianamen Vigil photographs - Ryan Chang
Photographs of 1989 London China Town and Chinese Embassy vigil and protest loaned Stephen Ng
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Sound design - Nicola Chang
Set dressings - Nemo Martin
Event curation - Kim Pearce
Production - Clarissa Widya