Review: LOST LAOWAIS, VAULT Festival

In Beijing, four expats at different stages of emigration are grappling with how Chinese society perceives them. Julian, a translator who's just moved (David East); Lisa, a British-born Chinese young woman (Siu-See Hung); Robert, a writer who's lived in the country for 20 years (Joseph Wilkins); and Ollie, a diplomat's son (Waylon Luke Ma) all crumble under the outer pressures of their shared colonialist past.

Lost Laowais is a compelling analysis of heritage, legacy, and privilege, but the play wanders too much with relatively cheap romantic story-lines and scenarios that escalate outlandishly fast. Written by David East, it brings up a couple of important issues such as the impossibility of overcoming a drastic cultural clash and the discordant perceptions of racism and politics. Tian Brown-Sampson's direction highlights some rocky acting and a slight lack of inventiveness.

East aims the spotlight on the darker side of assimilation and isolation, with characters who are outsiders on multiple levels. Lisa keeps being addressed in Chinese by waiters and such (Charlotte Chiew) in spite of being born and raised in the United Kingdom and not knowing the language, Robert is still a foreigner even after a lifetime, Ollie is struggling with his sense of integrity, and Julian is severely worried about his place in the world.

While the script is very forward in its subtext, the show gets muddles by expendable elements of the plot. The combination of East's straightforward writing and Brown-Sampson's extremely classic approach isn't the happiest, although the main themes thankfully manage to surface unmistakably. Lost Laowais might not be a wholesome and attentive piece of theatre at this stage, but it holds impressive amounts of perceptiveness as well as great potential to become a precise investigation of cultural insecurity and identity.

Lost Laowais runs at the Network Theatre as part of VAULT Festival until 9 February.