Must I Cry
Pleasance London
★★★★

ON AN international tour, Theatre du Pif’s lyrical show is derived from the works of celebrated Hong Kong writer XiXi and her typical themes of nostalgia, identity and the impact of modern society.

Bonni Chan plays a woman returning halfway round the world to the home of her childhood after her father's death. Although never specifically named, the semi-mythical island of her memories is Hong Kong and after decades away, the changes she finds threaten the very roots of her identity.

The distress of losing her past is imaginatively linked to the death of the last male northern white rhino and a fantastical childhood story told by her father of a rhino hiding out in a tunnel. The world of her timeless young memories is threatened by the profound changes that have occurred and with the passing of her father she has to find a new way to hold onto the past and the role it plays in her existence.

At just over an hour, the one woman, multimedia show in English with Chinese surtitles is as much a physical exploration as a poetic one. With emotive live accordion accompaniment, Chan floats and twirls through her girlhood memories while stylised projections and videos suggest a past of symbolic significance.

The gentle pace and measured delivery support the dream-like atmosphere Chan’s performance and self-direction achieves as the character’s personal journey takes on a philosophical dimension. What memories represent become the essence of this stylish production.

Although short, this elegiac drama does not lack substance. In 80 minutes Chan manages to recreate a world of childhood innocence and exploration and show how memories are a time tunnel conduit to our sense of self.

Never sermonising, censorious or melodramatic, this affecting drama leaves one thinking about one’s own connections to the past and assessing how we might hang on to them in a constantly changing world.

Runs until August 2 then on tour. Box office: 020 7609 1800, pleasance.co.uk