Our ticket for Speak Percussion's Assembly Operation is a Chinese one Yuan note, but this isn't just for novelty. The program tells us the inspiration for the show comes from the image that is printed on this note, and it allows us an opportunity to see the image and to better understand the show's concept. On it is an image from the West Lake in Hangzhou, which depicts three pools reflecting the moon. A body of water, a bridge and three ceramic stupas (pagodas) are also shown, and it is these items that influences Assembly Operation.
Walking
in, we see three rows of tables facing the audience, each row adorned with different items. The one
furthest to the back holds three small electronic keyboards whereas the middle one has
a variety of traditional looking ceramics and a number of instruments,
including drums. The front table is where the three percussionists, Kaylie Melville, Matthias Schack-Arnott and Eugene
Ughetti, sit motionless. They are surrounded by crumpled up tissue paper,
and knowing what we know about the show, it looks like a sea of water is surrounding them. A recording in Chinese plays through a
PA or a megaphone and what its saying is lost on me, but I believe it
to be sprouting cultural propaganda. Suddenly it stops, and the
three percussionists begin.
In was in 1979 when - in order to control its population - China implemented a One Child Policy per family. While there were a number of ways that families could still have a second child, there were strict rules and regulations that had to be adhered to. In a society were males were more favourable, this law resulted in the murders of many female babies or families having to keep the existence of a second child a secret. In 2016, the Chinese government formally ended its One Child Policy.
Presented as part of Asia TOPA, Lachlan Philpott's Little Emperors is a look at one such family - while being representative of many - and the impact this law had on their lives and continues to do so. Alice Qin - making her Australian stage debut - is the standout as Huishan, who is in her 30s, single and still living with her mother in Beijing. Qin finds a delicate balance of guilt, frustration and resentment at the pressure of being the eldest child and the expectations placed upon her: that she marry and produce a grandchild for her mother, played by Diana (Xiaojie) Lin.
