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SHANGHAI DOLLS

03 Apr - 10 May 2025

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Kiln Theatre in association with Paines Plough presents

Shanghai Dolls

by Amy Ng

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The true story of a cultural martyr and a cultural oppressor.

When two penniless actresses meet in Shanghai at auditions for Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, they quickly become inseparable. But as political upheaval rips through China, their tumultuous friendship will alter not only the course of their lives, but the course of history. One will become China’s first female director. The other, the architect of the Cultural Revolution.

Amy Ng’s newest play looks at the untold story of two of the most influential women in Chinese history – Madame Mao and Sun Weishi – and how the personal truly is political.

Important Information

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Post show Q&A: Thu 24 Apr, 7.30pm

 

Access Performances

Captioned Performance: Mon 28 Apr, 7.30pm
Relaxed Performance: Sat 3 May, 2.30pm
Touch Tour: Thu 8 May, 6pm
Audio Described Performance: Thu 8 May, 7.30pm

Click here for Access information. If you have any questions about any of our services or need assistance in arranging your visit please get in touch: 020 7328 1000 or Access@KilnTheatre.com.

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Dates

03 Apr - 10 May 2025

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Creative Team

Amy Ng

Playwright
Amy Ng

Playwright

Amy Ng is a British-Hong Kong playwright. Her plays include Under the Umbrella (Belgrade Theatre Coventry, UK Tour), Acceptance (Hampstead Theatre) and Shangri-La (Finborough Theatre). Radio plays include Tiger Girls (BBC Radio 4) and Kilburn Passion (BBC Radio 3). Adaptations include Miss Julie (Chester Storyhouse and UK tour 2020, 2021; Singapore Repertory Theatre 2022, and a bilingual version for the Hong Kong International Arts Festival, 2024). Amy trained as a historian, and is the author of ‘Nationalism and Political Liberty’ (Oxford University Press).  She is fluent in English, German and Chinese and regularly translates Chinese plays into English.

Katie Posner

Director
Katie Posner

Director

Katie Posner joined Paines Plough as Joint Artistic Director with Charlotte Bennett in August 2019. For Paines Plough, Katie has most recently directed Fringe First award winning play Strategic Love Play by Miriam Battye; You Bury Me by Ahlam (winner of the Women’s Prize for Playwriting) which premiered at Bristol Old Vic, Edinburgh Lyceum and the Orange Tree; Hungry (Soho Theatre/Roundabout Edinburgh); Really Big and Really Loud and Black Love (Co-Director for Roundabout); and You Bury Me staged reading for the Edinburgh International Festival (Paines Plough/Ellie Keel Productions/45 North).

Katie is an experienced and award-winning director. She has worked across a wide variety of productions both overseas and on national tours, including multiple productions with York Theatre Royal and Pilot Theatre with whom she was Associate Director from 2009 until 2017. Her work encompasses both intimate pieces of new writing and larger-scale community pieces. In 2019, Katie received a UK Theatre Award nomination as Best Director with her production of My Mother Said I Never Should at Theatre by the Lake.

Her productions include: Richard, My Richard (Shakespeare North Playhouse/Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds); My Mother Said I Never Should (Theatre by the Lake); Mold Riots (Theatr Clwyd); The Seven Ages Of Patience (Kiln Theatre); Swallows & Amazons (Storyhouse), Babe (Mercury Theatre); Playing Up (NYT); Finding Nana (New Perspectives); Made In India (Tamasha/Belgrade/Pilot); Everything Is Possible: The York Suffragettes, End Of Desire (York Theatre Royal); The Season Ticket (Northern Stage); A View From Islington North (Out Of Joint); In Fog And Falling Snow (National Railway Museum); Running On The Cracks (Tron Theatre); York Mystery Plays (Museum Gardens York); Blackbird, Ghost Town, Clocking In, A Restless Place (Pilot Theatre)

Jean Chan

Designer

Aideen Malone

Lighting Designer

Nicola T. Chang

Composer & Sound Designer