Last night we ran 100 Words at The Door in Birmingham, which is The REP’s space dedicated exclusively to the production and presentation of new plays by living writers. We had a total of nine 100 words plays written mainly by local writers, some of which were only received on the day and the rest the day before. The REP put together a fabulous cast who worked with real commitment and focus throughout Tuesday and Wednesday. There was a general theme of ‘cultural misunderstandings’ which the writers interpreted in many different ways.

The plays were:

A Brummie in Beijing by Billy Dosanjh
Customs by Catherine Edwards
Untitled by Cassi Roberts
Inventory by Ben Musgrave
Are We On The Right Train? by David Watson
Big Shot by Arzhang Pezhman
This Is Living by Shao Wen (Mandarin version)
This Is Living by Shao Wen (English version)
Not So Great Expectations by Cheryl Akila Payne

We also need to mention our wonderful performers – Ashwin Bolar, Dean Leon Finlan, Duane Hannibal,Cassie Joseph, Jennifer Lim, Louise Mardenborough, Demi Oyediran, Bryony Taylor and Oliver Williams – and say thanks to them all!
After the show

Following the show there was a brief question and answer session led by Ben Payne (Associate Director of The REP) and with a panel including Natasha, Billy Dosanjh and Shao Wen (two of the writers) and Jennifer Lim (one of the actors). The audience, which included several groups from the local Chinese community, responded fantastically well to the whole evening. They loved the simplicity of the concept and the immediacy of the performance.

Running two different language versions of Shao Wen’s play back to back worked particularly well – something to develop in future phases of the project. Afterwards we were able to chat to many of the audience, and thank the Birmingham Chinatown Lions (who were there in force) personally.

We’re very excited about the future of 100 Words in Birmingham

It’s the end of a busy day and I’m about to go to dinner with representatives from the Birmingham Chinatown Lions Club. They have very generously supported 100 Words at the REP through financial sponsorship and hospitality.

Today, the full team were here. The morning was spent creating a literal translation of Shao Wen’s monologue with invaluable input from Li Ruru, who came down from Leeds to be with us for the day. In the afternoon, we were joined by two actors – Oliver Williams and Jennifer Lim. Oliver has worked on 100 Words before and knows China well having grown up in Hong Kong. Jennifer Lim is a British Chinese actor who is fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

They’re going to perform Shao Wen’s original 100 word play, which will be performed in both English and Chinese on Wednesday, along with a new 100 word play that Shao Wen wrote at the workshop on Saturday. It was great to hear Chinese rhythms again and to celebrate the strength of the project in bringing together people from a diversity of backgrounds.

Tomorrow we start rehearsals for the other 100 word plays that were written by young Birmingham writers on Saturday – I’m looking forward to reading the finished scripts and meeting the actors.

With 3 weeks to go until our Guangzhou / Shanghai trip the count down begins….. But first as Rachel says we have Birmingham. Shao Wen arrives on Thursday, she’s bringing with her a monologue to be performed at The Rep next Friday. If her 100 Word play is anything to go by then we are in for a treat.

I’m hoping she isnt overwhelmed by the packed schedule we have for her. Her first challenge could well be the hotel breakfast!!. I remember my first chinese breakfast of congee, red bean paste drink, and steamed buns with sesame, sounds delicious to me now but I dont think I was so keen at the time.

Meanwhile I’m busy finding actors, and preparing for another 100 Words workshop, whilst frantically rehearsing my mandarin in preparation for the airport arrival on Thursday (not to mention for the Guangzhou /Shanghai trip).

During her week at Birmingham Rep Shao Wen will have the opportunity to meet and talk to other young writers involved in 100 Words. I’m hoping she will write a daily diary/blog – it would be great if people had questions / thoughts or ideas in response to this.

Roll on Thursday.

We were delighted to hear on Sunday that Shao Wen, a 19 year old playwright from Beijing, has got her visa and will be travelling to the UK on Thursday to take part in 100 Words Week at Birmingham REP. Shao Wen, or Peanuts as she’s known, was one of the writers who took part in a pilot workshop we ran in Beijing in April 2005.  The REP invited her to take part in the Generation Festival and commissioned a monologue from her.

The monologue will be shown as a work in progress next Friday evening at The Door.  One of a number of monologues commissioned by the REP from young writers across the globe, the piece represents Peanuts’ response to the questions – What are the turning points in our lives? What makes us who we are?  Check out The Door’s website for more information.

Peanuts’ original 100 word play will also be performed earlier in the week in English and Mandarin alongside other 100 word plays written by young writers attached to the REP. Natasha will be working with the writers from the weekend onwards with rehearsals starting early in the week prior to the performance on Wednesday 28 March.  Again, check out the link for more information:   It should be a fascinating event and there’ll be a lot of opportunities to chat to everyone involved in the project.

100 Words is entering an exciting couple of months. At the end of March, we’re running a workshop with young writers from Birmingham REP’s Transmissions programme. This forms part of the REP’s new Generation Festival showcasing work for, by and with young people aged 12 to 25.

We’re delighted that we’ve been invited to be part of this. While in Birmingham, we’ll also be researching partner links that exist between some of the city’s schools and their counterparts in Guangzhou, in southern China.  There is a growing city-to-city relationship between Birmingham and Guangzhou, and we’re keen to see how 100 Words could contribute to this.

In April, we’ll be able to pick up the baton at the other end as we’re off to Guangzhou and Shanghai to carry out research and consolidate partnerships in both cities. This visit has been supported by the British Council through its Connections through Culture initiative. We’re obviously very grateful for their continued support.

We’re just starting to turn our minds to getting together a detailed itinerary.  Luckily, we’ll have both our wonderful adviser Dr Li Ruru and our Chinese producer Cheung Fai with us, so arranging meetings and talking to people will be much easier.  More to follow on this over the next few weeks.

Imagine if you had to choose a hundred words…which would you choose? Why would you choose them? Would you choose a word for the way it sounded or because of what it means? How would you use them?

One Hundred Words explores how the essence of a language and culture can be captured in 100 words and how by sharing these words through plays, operas, films and virtual communities, connections can be forged and an insight into another culture gained. As One Hundred Words grows, it will not only link London and Beijing but hundreds of cities across the world.