You are warmly invited to the third in the University of Westminster/AHRC funded series

China in Britain: Myths and Realities

Theatre/Performance and Music

July 18th 2012 Time 9:45:AM 5:30PM The Old Cinema, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW

Entrance - including lunch and refreshments - is free of charge so for catering purposes it is essential to book your place by emailing anne@translatingchina.info
The day will present an eclectic programme with presentations from actors and broadcasters and equally exciting academics (!) Dongshin Chang (City University of New York), Diana Yeh (Birkbeck College and University of East London), Simon Sladen (University of Winchester) and Ashley Thorpe (University of Reading) will present research that restores the history of China and Chineseness to the English stage - from Regency Extravaganzas, such as Chinese Sorcerer to chinoiserie theatre in the 1930s and Lady Precious Stream. We will look at subversive pantomime in Thatchers Britain, Poppy, and more recently Anna Chens Steampunk Opium Wars and Damon Albarns opera Monkey: Journey to the West. The UKs most high profile British Chinese actor, David Yip, remembered by many for his role as Detective Sergeant John Ho in The Chinese Detective will be talking about his new multimedia show Gold Mountain. There will be performances from comedienne, poet and political pundit, Anna Chen (aka Madame Miaow), actor David Lee-Jones, currently the lead in Richard III - the first British Chinese actor to be cast as one of Shakespeares English Kings - and Resonance Radios Lucky Cat DJ, Zoe Baxter, playing Korean Punk, Chinese Hip Hop and Reggae, Japanese Ska, Thai Country, and Singapore 60's pop.
The University of Westminster's Old Cinema can make the proud claim of being the birthplace of British cinema. Here, in 1896, the Lumire brothers put on the first public show of moving pictures in this country. Now a space of fascinating historical interest, the Regent Street Old Cinema has retained its stage, decorative gilding, barrel vaulted ceiling and boasts a working 1936 Compton organ. A refurbishment campaign is underway to restore the theatre to its original Victorian glory. http://www.birthplaceofcinema.com/