Scenes from a Repatriation at Royal Court Theatre Review
Written by Bronagh for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Content warnings for this production include Racist and sexist language, references to homophobia, strong language. It touches on themes of grief, loss, and death. Depiction of hostage-taking and coercive behaviour. Language describing or referring to violence and oppression, including; suicide, war, genocide, being burnt-alive, self-immolation, human trafficking, and police brutality. This production also contains haze, smoke & incense, flashing lights, and loud noises.
Scenes from a Repatriation centres around Guanyin, a Buddhist statue now overlooking the gift shop in the British Museum. We follow the journey of getting her back to China, where we find out she has been stolen from. Scenes from a Repatriation outlines the struggle, the hostility, the sleaze and the controversy surrounding returning relics to their rightful home.
First of all, TK Hay’s design is incredible in transforming the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs space; a sandy stage with Guanyin placed at one end, wrapped in fabrics, almost looking bandaged, and bathed in light. It isn’t too unlike being on the ‘frow’ of a trendy fashion week show. At the other end, we have a screen where text pops up throughout. One thing I would say is to try and get a seat in the middle of the row so you can easily look at both the statue and the screen; I was sat very close to the screen and felt like I was straining my neck to read the text.
Scenes of a Repatriation is fragmented into short scenes, each starting with museum-eqsue ‘labels’ projected onto the screen with a title, language and a short introduction. Throughout, we see exchanges with an angry businessman, a cleaner subtly paying respects to Guanyin and we even dip into the supernatural with witches worshipping the statue. Guanyin links all of these people and stories together, stealing the scene even after she is returned to China, showing just how much generations of people can be united by spirituality and emotion.
Act One is more surface level, at times showing undoubtedly uncomfortable discussions about objects being taken from their country of origin and the debate and protest that can come with this. I found Act Two picked up the pace a lot more, diving deeper into the subject, looking at scenarios involving hostages and interrogation where we feel the urgency and heat radiate across the space. I was hooked throughout Act Two, which started with a very intense interrogation in Mandarin, heart rate rising as the interrogation got more intense.
A lot of different emotions were evoked throughout the show; discomfort, greed, misunderstanding to name a few. Our ensemble of six actors do a fantastic job in conveying these emotions, and get us thinking about the meaning behind the show and statue. They flow seamlessly between characters under the experimental direction of emma+pj, creating a hugely enjoyable show.
I’m sure many of us have wandered through museums, the British Museum or otherwise, and marvelled at what we are being presented with but soon moved on. We haven’t thought about the source of the object, and why it has ended up thousands of miles from home. Scenes from a Repatriation gets us thinking about the effect of taking objects from their homeland; a particular favourite scene of mine was where a student was distressed at the thought of seeing Guanyin as part of their university course much to the dismay of their professor. Guanyin is very much silent throughout, but tells a long and twisted story going back hundreds of years, crossing continents.
Scenes from a Repatriation is an extraordinary show, and one that reminded me of why I love theatre and the power of a good script, cast and direction. There is so much to be said on the subject, and this is just the start.
At the Royal Court Theatre until 24th May 2025.
★★★★
