A feast of boldest theatrical explorations left with under-explored stories
What would you expect from a story about a young woman growing up in a secret nuclear city in western China? This is the question posed not only to filmmaker Francesca (Francesca Marcolina), but also to the audience.
Atom Boi features the process of making a documentary about a secret Chinese nuclear city, 404. Francesca, the director, meets the city’s local citizen Yuanzi (Xiaonan Wang) in a London nightclub, enlisting her to share her childhood experiences. Initially, Francesca arrogantly views the documentary as her own story, while Yuanzi tries to fabricate stories she believes will please Francesca, by making up an execution of her childhood friend Erdan (Kelvin Chan).
Under He Zhang’s direction, Atom Boi boldly explores a vast array of technologies and theatrical techniques, including but not limited to real-time camera, projection, mime, doubling, and a bit of audience interaction through a Pictionary game at the beginning. The real-time camera works especially effective in a play about filmmaking, and I quite enjoyed the scene where Yuanzi and Erdan endeavour to avoid a spotlight (movement director Ting-Ning Wen) during one of their “adventures” in the nuclear plant.
The second half of the play offers a more sensual experience, with a huge disco ball evoking nostalgic feeling of the ’80s and ’90s. This is highlighted when Francesca’s mother dances in a Beijing nightclub (music by Jovienne Jin) while the projection displays the pulling down of the Berlin Wall. Another disco scene near the end of the show features Erdan dancing like Taiwanese rock icon Lo Ta-yu to Teresa Teng’s song, set against a video compilation of nuclear explosions from animes and films. This subtly hints at the show’s theme of doomerism, with Zhang pondering upon the relation between the past and future.
Yet despite its unbound theatrical advents, I would expect a more profound ethnographic exploration of city 404’s story. What is Yuanzi’s grandfather like? How does he know the Russian Song? What does it mean to live in such a city under the communist regime that has a tense relation with Soviet Union? In the current show, the city serves merely as a backdrop, indistinguishable from any other city with hot pot restaurants and cinemas. What is the uniqueness of such a city? These questions remain unaddressed, leaving the story like an iceberg missing its submerged mass, diminished of its full depth and potentialities.
Comparatively, the dynamic between Francesca and Yuanzi works better. Although Francesca’s familiar conflict with her mother is a bit clichéd (wittily presented through real-life camera work in an anachronistic order with pre-recorded voiceovers), her relationship with Yuanzi feels more tangible. Yuanzi gradually gains confidence, asserting that the documentary is her story rather than what the filmmaker wants it to be. Francesca eventually accepts Yuanzi as her equal, not merely her guinea pig or raw data.
Atom Boi blends innovative techniques with under-explored stories. While capturing nostalgic and sensory aspects, the play fails to engage with the exceptionality of the secret nuclear city.