Do you remember the epic 1963 movie, ’55 Days at Peking’?
Stars like Charlton Heston, David Niven and Ava Gardner helped recreate the days of the famous 1900 Boxer Uprising in China.
A point in history when those ‘gallant’ Brits were under siege from the peasant ‘Boxer’ army – supported by Imperial Chinese Troops – in a clash described by the newspapers of the day as ‘ the most exciting episode ever known to civilisation.’
That event is recreated by a fictitious character called Sir Claude MacDonald in a talk he’s going to give in Bath in 1912. He was the British ambassador to Peking during the siege, don’t you know.
Playing him, in a one-man show called Chinese Boxing coming to the Ustinov Studio at Bath’s Theatre Royal from January 27th to the 29th, is actor Mark Kitto.
Mark is also a writer and former publisher who lived and worked in China for 18 years, during which time he married and began raising a family.
Chinese Boxing has been described as a bold and innovative piece of theatre that tackles one of the urgent questions of modern times: can China and the West get along? Tackling it from both sides with no punches pulled.
I caught up with him at home – via Zoom – and asked him why he had chosen that particular time in China’s long history to explore the cultural and political issues of today.
NB. Chinese Boxing will be at the Ustinov Studio at Bath’s Theatre Royal from January 27th to the 29th at 7.30 pm.
https://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/events/chinese-boxing
At 12 noon on the 28th, Mark will talk about his latest novel, China Running Dog, the story of two young Brits struggling to live and survive in Shanghai in the 21st century. Tickets are half price when booked with Chinese Boxing.
