The success of Everything Everywhere All At Once might have shown that the Oscars are moving towards being not #SoWhite, but the lack of recognition for the film at the Baftas also highlighted that British artistic life is still at least a few steps behind America in terms of recognising talent of colour.
Anthony Lau’s bold, kaleidoscopic production for Sheffield Theatres shows how all our lives are enriched when the multiplicity of our artists is recognised and valued. Dundee-born of Chinese heritage, Lau draws on the cultural palette of his upbringing for this never less than entertaining new staging of Bertolt Brecht’s 1941 parable.
The play with music tells the story of three gods who arrive in southwest China looking for a good person to justify them not bringing forth armageddon on the whole world. After gifting a life-changing sum of money to Shen Te (Ami Tredrea), a cash-strapped sex worker behind on her rent, they revisit her sporadically to see if she proves herself good. Unfortunately for humanity, the money creates nothing but a spiralling set of problems for Shen Te, who soon succumbs to the irresistible power of capitalism and the exploitation that comes with it.
Lau understands the setting and draws on cultural detail – from the costumes to references to the way cigarettes are bought and manufactured in south-east Asia – to create a nuanced and textured piece that rings with authenticity. His broad references mean we get humanity and realism bumping up against the outlandish – think Michelle Yeoh filing taxes one minute and sucking hot dog fingers the next.
Lau also pays homage to Brecht’s desire to alienate his audience, wrong-footing us with surreal appearances of giant frogs being chased by three gods, and lighting that reminds us we’re in a theatre. The result is that we feel unanchored and not always safe in the hands of the storytellers: watching the characters enter the stage by two large slides may be amusing, but we too sometimes feel like we’re sliding away from the story and the characters while the – beautifully directed – madness is happening around us.
• At the Crucible theatre, Sheffield until 1 April; and Lyric Hammersmith, London, 15 April-13 May.
