After a successful sold-out tour in 2017, Mary Cooper and M.W. Sun’s revealing and poignant play, From Shore to Shore/Piao Yang Guo Hai is set to return for a national tour from March 2019. Weaving together three moving stories drawn from different generations of British Chinese communities, From Shore to Shore/Piao Yang Guo Hai offers a chance to connect with, understand, and reflect upon the Chinese experience in the UK.
Staged in Chinese restaurants, featuring live music, three languages, and accompanied by a two course Chinese meal, the play will start its tour at the Yang Sing Restaurant in Manchester from the 9 -16 March and then tour ‘til 6 April. Food and its relationship to love and survival are important themes in the play and the restaurant setting enhances these connections.
Directed by Yellow Earth’s co- founder and former Artistic Director David K S Tse (Song Unsung, Southbank, Running the Silk Road Barbican and King Lear, RSC), From Shore to Shore spans a century of Chinese history through stories of love and loss, struggle and survival – Cheung Wing is escaping from war, Mei Lan’s had enough of the potato peeler, and Yi Di wants the impossible; her parents’ approval.
Director David K S Tse, said:
“Directing From Shore to Shore is both an exciting challenge and a risky venture. The ambition and scale of the storytelling, spanning 76 years, three languages and touring to non-theatre spaces across the UK, requires a versatile, hard-working cast, creative and production team. The sold-out show was well received 2 years ago, moving and entertaining new audiences, both Chinese and Western. As we prepare for a spring 2019 tour with a new cast & team, we anticipate exciting times ahead!”
Playwright Mary Cooper, who has written for BBC Radio 4, Channel 4 and Granada, as well as writing more than 20 plays to commission for touring theatre, and multilingual collaborator M. W. Sun spent three years researching and recording stories with people in the Chinese communities.
From Shore to Shore’s seven strong cast will include Ozzie Yue (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Liverpool Playhouse and TV appearances amongst others in Marco Polo, Father Ted, All Quiet on the Western Front and Doctor Who), Michelle Yim (The Empress and Me, Red Dragonfly Productions), Luna Dai (Sink, Southbank Centre/The Courtyard Theatre), Vinna Law (The Pillowman, theatrethreesixty),Alice Lee (Sweet Mandarin, True Heart Theatre), Windson Liong (Chinglish, Park Theatre) and Alex Chang (The Twits, Curve Theatre and Rose Theatre). The cast will be joined by musician and composer Nicola Chang (STOMP! cast member and composer for Finishing the Picture, Finborough Theatre).
The production will be designed by Pui Lee who has recently been awarded an ACE Develop Your Own Creative Practice grant and is being supported by Northern Stage and Birmingham Rep.
From Shore to Shorewill open from 9-16 March at the Yang Sing Restaurant, Manchester and will then tour to Angel Restaurant, Liverpool (19-20 March); Wong’s Kitchen at Lancaster University, The Dukes Theatre and The Hothouse in Morecambe (21-24 March); Palace Garden, Newcastle (26-30 March) and finally the Chung Ying Cantonese and Chinese Community Centre in Birmingham (2-6 April).
From Shore to Shore is supported by Arts Council England and the Confucius Institutes at University of Manchester, University of Lancaster, University of Liverpool, Newcastle University.
For more info visit www.fromshoretoshore.co.uk
