Half a century’s worth of history squashed down into just 80 minutes is a mission so ambitious that it feels doomed to fail. Which is a particular misfortune in the case of Shanghai Dolls. Amy Ng’s play about the little-known relationship between Jiang Qing, the wife of Mao Zedong and Sun Weishi, the first female director in China, is ripe with dramatic potential. But, with so much ground to cover, the result is a play that feels like a swirling tornado of the past.
Shanghai Dolls rushes haphazardly through years of change, sprinkling the names of various political figures in the process. But, if it's a history lesson you’re hoping for, you’ll come out no better informed. The detail in Ng’s script is hurried over, while her dialogue is stiffly functional. The actors, Gabby Wong and Millicent Wong, pour all their energies into bringing the historical figures to life. But, their characters remain 2D sketches. Their delivery feels like pantomime, with wild, extending hand gestures and rising shouty tones. All at once, Jiang Qing switches from an excitement-seeking stage lover to a cold, commanding political figure. Exactly why is anyone’s guess.
The true story is undeniably deeply fascinating. But, rather than digging into the reasons behind Jiang Qing’s transformation, Ng serves up a surface-level retelling. Awkward renditions of Oklahoma! songs are shoehorned in next to references to famine and abuse. Jiang Qing and Sun Weishi’s individualities are wiped from their characters; all of it is wildly melodramatic and lacks conviction.
Katie Posner’s production has the beginnings of something creative, though. On the backdrop, newspaper headlines flash suddenly, revealing our time and place. The sparse, dark stage is thick with smoke for the opening section; there’s the sense that danger could be at every turn.
As the scenes morph from one into another, occasionally, the stage will flush in black, and the women get a brief second to reveal their hidden fears. While history zooms around them, Shanghai Dolls remains their story. From their first meeting in a theatre in Shanghai, we see them as seeds growing in different directions. With a longer running time and a little more realism, this could be a welcome study of an extraordinary lost friendship.
