Lynn Belvedere

A DEAL by ZHU YI @ Chippen Street Theatre

The University of Sydney Union (USU) and Flying House Assembly present the Australian debut of A DEAL by ZHI YI China’s leading female playwright and directed by Shiya Lu.

This is a very fast-paced entertainingly fresh new take on immigration and the culture clash and the unresolved conflict between parents and daughter, and is a crystal clear reflection of a child who wants to be famous and achieve her prominent place on stage in the New World. Her burning all her bridges by fully denigrating her homeland, and her parents and and her government. Becoming an activist refugee, a press-hungry dissident apparently ready to be snatched of the street, and become another victim of extraordinary rendition and its controversial interrogation/torture techniques, whilst held at a black site without trial in a Laogai detention camp (Chinese equivalent of the Soviet Gulag).

Young actress from Shanghai China, lies brilliantly and convincingly, to be cast in the theatre role of a lifetime Off-Broadway, in fact her first role since leaving acting school. She declares herself to be an orphan and human rights victim of the Chinese Government, and so much more. This is a dark comedy, about so many things that are not ever true, and her despite telling unbelievable lies there are completely unexpected consequences.

Her Chinese parents who speak only Mandarin and Shanghainese unexpectedly arrive at her $2000.00 rented apartment in New York, having smuggled one million U.S. dollars in cash from Shanghai, to pay the final payment for her new apartment in Manhattan. About the clever con-artists who tricked her parents, by persuading them to honestly believe that a ten million dollar New York apartment, can be be bought from them for one million dollars.

The play covers her parents adventures and mis-adventures in New York City, and their journey to try to buy a Manhattan apartment, in an elite neighbourhood, an elite non-chinese neighbourhood. Despite being Chinese, mum dad and daughter all aspire to become an American Gweilo (Gwailou), i.e. a foreigner now living in a Brand New Country called America.

Starring: Abigail Coffey, Paul Chambers, Edric Hong, Suzann James, Simon Lee, Katherine Nheu, Sally Williams, Susan Young, SK Zhang

Thursday 22nd August 2019 7:30 PM until Saturday 31st August 2019 7:30 PM at Chippen Street Theatre, 45 Chippen Street, Chippendale, NSW

A DEAL by ZHU YI, was developed as part of “New Text – New Stage”, an Ibsen International project for the development of new writing. An excerpt was staged at Hålogaland Teater, Norway, with debut off-Broadway in 2017.

ZHU YI is a New York-based playwright and screenwriter, born and raised in Shanghai, China. She received the First Prize at 2015 World Sinophone Drama Competition, and Shanghai Drama Valley’s 2015 Outstanding Playwright of the Year Award.

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Published by Lynn Belvedere

Once we were old enough, my parents took the whole family to the Sydney CBD cinemas every week. Thus began a lifetime interest, in going to the cinema every week, and became a passionate cinephile by watching all those very heavily edited ''Australian Film Censorship Board'' true cinéaste versions of brand new release ''Cinematograph Films''. Greater Union always gave my father (who worked in Cinema Distribution Exhibition) guest double movie passes, to every first-night ''red carpet Opening Night'' at The State Theatre Cinema at 49 Market Street. Up until his death, my dad always received ''two house seats'' for every Opening Night performance events at the Theatre Royal SYDNEY and at Her Majesty's Theatre SYDNEY. As a child, when mum choose not to go, I often went with him, to those live performance events. As a young child, I remember being taken for each new show, at both The New Theatre at 60 Sussex Street, and the Phillip Street Theatre when located at 150 Elizabeth Street, and for classical music concerts at Sydney Town Hall. = = = ★★★★★ = = = Being happy is a choice, and I have always viewed my life, as material ready be made into a series of amazing tentpole movies. My New Years Resolution is kept every year: ''Get to see/review five new live theatre shows each week, and get to see/review six new cinema movies each week'', plus is one of the Australian Cinema Pioneers, and apparently have seen far too much already, but always wanting to experience more and more each year. I am also able to do almost everything that I enjoy doing. Yes, I do have a great daytime job in I.T. as ''Software Design Project Manager'', PLUS each evening until quite late - - - Australian Cinematograph Films historical censorship consultant - product-placement consultant - mystery-shopper consultant - playwright, writer, author, director, producer, photographer, cinematographer, color-grader, subtitles proofreader - arts/ drama/ music/ film critic and judge, journalist, member FIPRESCI & FCCA & AFCA, member AACTA accredited film reviewer-critic-writer, accredited IMDB.COM critic-reviewer-author, projectionist, plus an innovative iconoclast - - - ★★★★★ LYNN BELVEDERE ★★★★★ - - - [usr 5] - - -