Review: China

China by William Yang
Griffin Theatre
Review

Unedited version which first appeared in The Daily Telegraph.

William Yang is a slight man with a large open face and eyes that are deeply sincere. A third generation Australian and descendent of Chinese migrants who settled in Northern Queensland, he tells the story of his pilgrimage overseas to his ancestors homeland.

Through simple narrative delivered from centre-stage of the intimate Griffin Theatre space he takes us through the photos and videos that documented his journey. It takes us to the people he met, the experiences he went through and the feelings he experienced. It is here that he gives his sincerity great dollops of wryness as he charms his audience.

William Yang has created a niche in performance art which he has developed over many years. Yang has revived the ancient art of story-telling that uses national geographic style photos threaded with touching and beautiful stories.

From the bustling metropolis of Beijing, to Nanjing, the sacred mountain of Huang Shang, the Yellow River and Gangzhou in the south, Yang gives a Bill Bryson like history of the people and then gets on with the business of his experiences.

What unites audiences through Yang’s pilgrimage is the knowledge that most of us are the descendent of migrants from other lands. “I found my second home,” he says but the same time he expresses the frustration that we all share when you don’t speak the language.

China is a vast, beautiful and humourous story that is sometimes let down by images that don’t capture the enormity of the country’s unique geography. Yet, his inquisitive eye and the information he retains of each of the people he meets is an inspiring act in understanding the people around him and the world in all its intricate and complicated beauty. And it is a journey worth sharing with him.


SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod Street Kings Cross NSW 2011
Until 9 February, $25 – 43, 1300 306 776
griffintheatre.com.au