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Stop, Look, Go (www.stoplookgo-evergreen.org.uk )
A Report from Veronica Needa on a Playback performance which took place on 7th July 2005
A website for Chinese Women who suffer from Domestic Violence was launched on Thursday July 7th 2005 in Birmingham. It was hosted by W.A.I.T.S (Women Acting in Todays Society) and included a 40 minute bilingual English/Cantonese Playback performance.
The performance took place at Carrs Lane Church, Birmingham City Centre. Team members included Terrino Chan, Mok Siu Chong, Juline Lou, Veronica Needa and Dorothy Wong. We had all got on to trains from London’s Marylebone and Euston Stations by 0840 and were heading towards Birmingham when the bombs exploded in London. Some news filtered through SMS on our mobile phones, and we listened to whatever news was available on the radio. But the show went on. The audience was mixed – many languages in the room, people of many colours.
The situation of domestic violence in Chinese families in the UK is aggravated by several factors. While some men are victims, the majority of sufferers are women. Many are newcomers to the country and have to cope with young children. They are living in an unfamiliar cultural environment, and often do not speak English well enough (or have the time to learn) to know how to ask for help, or know that help is available. There is also a tendency (true for many cultures) to regard these personal matters as deeply private and even shameful to reveal to anyone, especially strangers. This website hopes to reach into the home and offer information, support and hope. Do check it out and forward it on to anyone you think might be interested.
Three stories were shared that day. Quy Te who told of learning how to create a cartoon story for the website. She did this in the three day workshop never having done anything like this before. It was fun, and she was courageous to be the first in the Teller’s Chair.
Shu Pao Lim, a vigorous woman in her eighties, told of her traumatic escape across the Burmese border into China as a young woman during World War 2. Her sister had just given birth 3 days earlier. On this journey they encountered a man who had to leave behind his mother in his car who could walk no further because of her bound feet. All he could do was to leave her with a box of biscuits and then had to go on without her. Another young woman they encountered was clasping a dead baby to her body. Shu Pao was able to persuade her to let the baby go and join them in the escape. The bombs were raining down overhead, and guns shooting from all sides. Shu Pao said they had to cope with dead bodies rolling past them down the mountainside as they clambered up. Shu Pao could have told any number of other stories from her extraordinary life. But she felt moved to tell this one.
| "The performances were truly amazing. Not only that, but also
inspiring and wonderful. It would be lovely to see more performances
like this." -Chenelle Robinson, Domestic Violence Support Team "I wanted to inspire the silent ones that were in the audience. I felt strengthened yet again by telling my story." Lorna Georgina, victim of Domestic Violence "The play has been very powerful for me even if it was not my own story. There was a very good understanding among the members which I really admire. Good work and I hope that many more will find what you helpful and therapeutic" - Elaine Leung, Chinese counselor "Very refreshing way of theatre work, eye-opening and touching. I enjoyed it and was inspired by it" - Wai Ling Bickerton, PhD student in Psychology, University of Birmingham |
The last story came from Lorna Georgina who told of how she struggled with her feelings when she was suffering from violence from her partner. She knew she should leave but there was still a lot of love for him. It was not until she learned she was pregnant, that she gathered the inner strength to leave that house and make a new life and new home for her child.
Stories about the capacity of the human spirit to move forward in the face of extreme challenges.
Later that afternoon, with calmness and a warm feeling of togetherness, The UK Chinese Playback Team looked at how we might find our way home. All public transport going into London had been cancelled. We stopped by a police station in Birmingham to seek help with hiring a car as one option to take us back to London. There was only one policeman in the office and it was very quiet. He was very accommodating. We made ourselves comfortable in the foyer while we checked the Yellow Pages and made enquiries with several Car hire firms. Nothing available. We were clearly not the only ones with this idea. We thought about staying overnight, and made some calls and plans for this. Eventually, we managed to get on to the first train that was going into Euston that day. Coming home to London felt important. Terrino’s wife collected 5 of us from Watford Junction and drove them home to Ealing. Dorothy and Veronica went on into central London. It was very quiet, except for the occasional sounds of sirens - ambulances and police cars. We walked home alongside so many other Londoners.
One step at a time, we will see what our Playback service can offer next.
Return to topTHE HEARTS OF WOMEN
Date: SUNDAY 30-05-2004
We had an audience of about 50, mostly women and of all ages. They were mainly Chinese from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, mainland China & British-born, with guests from Nigeria, & Finland, and Sherry is Irish. We had 6 stories altogether. From a young man who feels good about being Chinese here in England, to a woman who has had very positive experiences being a Chinese Woman in business, then a story about the loss of a first love, to a story from our Nigerian guest (Chuck Mike) who told of his work in Nigerian rural communities researching about female circumcision. A big story - a most powerful awakener offered by a welcome stranger in our midst – followed by a story from a young man about a moment of deep recognition. He told of how encountering a Chinese woman with four children at a hospital waiting room, catalysed in him an understanding of the burden that many Chinese women have to bear.
Our last story was from just one of these women, abandoned by a husband who was addicted to gambling and had stolen all her money and savings, leaving her with their child. She only spoke Mandarin, though understood Cantonese, so we had quite a dance of languages in the conducting and in the performance. All the enactments were on the button. We worked easefully, supportively, creating powerful images with metaphor and cloth, as well as anchoring the stories when appropriate in natural realism. We all had gos as Teller's Actor. And Sherry multiplied the magic with her instruments.
Everyone was moved and totally engaged and, we trust, thoroughly enriched by this meeting of stories, of people, and cultures. We learnt of women from Africa and remembered how foot-binding was still practised in China not so long ago. Few cultures are exempt from complicity in the oppression of women, by women as well as men. From positive experiences of language and integration, we were also reminded of the painful isolation and abandonment experienced by many who are often silent and hidden.
The Chinese people in the UK are rarely heard and seen by the mainstream British, except in Chinese take-aways and kung-fu films. So Playback offers this community a much-needed vehicle to enable the real stories of this community to be voiced. The feedback from the audience was extremely positive, so let’s watch what happens next!
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