On Thursday 18th October 2018Â I attended the Theatre Royal Plymouth where I watched Forgotten, which was written by Daniel York Loh, and directed by Kim Pearce.
Forgotten tells the story of a group of people surrounded in their love for Chinese opera and performance. However, life seems to get in the way. Old Six and Second Moon are struggling to provide for their child, and opium is preventing Big Dog from reaching his true potential. In an effort to create a better life for themselves, the men go off to war to help the British allies behind the front lines, but not everything goes the way they hoped it would.
With Remembrance Day fast approaching, I think it was important to introduce this piece now, so that we remember those who fought for us in World War One - even the ones we don't know that much about. It was interesting to learn that there were around 140,000 members of the Chinese Labour Corps, and how their faces were painted over in a mural in Paris to make room for the Americans. I think the piece consolidated this theme at the end of the play, with a powerful scene addressing the CLC soldiers that were painted over to make way for the Americans. Having this at the end was a clever way of keeping this fresh in the audience's minds as they leave the theatre feeling the impact from the last scene, and having time to reflect upon it.
Old Six and Big Dog are the two main characters who open the production. Old Six is husband to Second Moon, and father of their child. He has a lead role in their opera and is usually the one who makes decisions for the group - he resonates dominance through his posture and by having his chest exposed, in the same way a gorilla beats his chest to show dominance. Big Dog is more of a free spirit compared to Old Six. He seems like a lost traveller, and is unsure about what to do with his life - he doesn't believe he has a purpose. This is reflected, again, with his posture, and his laid back persona. His clothes are baggier and more loose compared to the other characters, and he is also one of the only characters who doesn't wear shoes.
Michael Phong Le (Old Six) and Camille Mallet De Chauny (Big Dog) took on the roles of their characters well, and were able to express a variety of mannerisms that helped bring their characters to life. They were also two of the actors that didn't fluff their lines. There were lots of slip ups from the other actors, usually just mixing up a couple of words, which did leave me confused in places, but fortunately, the actors were able to realise the slips and correct themselves. I assume this may have just been down to first night jitters, or a short period of time to rehearse, but I do applaud them for remembering all the other lines in the play, because they were quite complex and included a lot of information.
The set was very clever as the flooring from Act 1 transformed into the backdrop for Act 2 - because there was no curtain, it was interesting to see the stage team dismantle and reassemble the pieces. I think the lighting could have been more useful to help divide the scenes up, because a lot of the time multiple scenes were happening at once, and it was confusing in places. However, the sound effects were used to great effect to help you figure out the story. One thing I will say about the sound is that someone must have accidentally messed with the volume, because I was nearly deaf after the sound effects that were used at the end. The costumes were very typical to the time period and were able to present the audience with something colourful and appealing to the eyes. They were broken down very well, which helped to give the garments character and a back story.
Overall, I think this was a unique play, but not one that appealed to my particular interests. I can see what they wanted to achieve from the play, but the main theme that they address could be summarised by watching the last 10 minutes. A valiant effort, and worth the watch for a history lesson.
