<Shimchong>: Daughter Overboard! is an Australian and Korean co-production that mixes a well-known Korean myth with modern-day Australian political commentary, satire, farce, and music. If this sounds like a lot, it is. But Director Jeremy Neideck and the terrific ensemble cast manage to keep all the plates spinning to create a show that is moving, funny and effective.
The plot revolves around a rag-tag bunch of strangers (Shimchong — the daughter of a blind man who sacrificed herself to the ocean, the Dragon King, a tattoo artist, a couple of hospital entertainers and an ex coast-guard officer) trying to help the plight of asylum seekers, but finding mostly disinterest and greed. The most interesting part of this storyline is when the play becomes self-reflective, asking what the arts can really do to create political change. The crew perform on Brisbane's Kookaburra Queen, with their audience happy to watch their show, but unwilling to take any action further. It's an apt question, when the vast majority of audiences for this play would already agree with its (occasionally heavy-handed) politics.
The most emotionally effective parts (for a non-Korean speaker) are the traditional Korean songs. There's something unspeakable about the horror of detention centres, and when put into (English) words it's both too much and not enough. Comparatively, the use of contemporary music performed by the actress playing Shimchong, with the dinky backing tracks and disco lights of an early X-Factor performance, seems like a misstep.
Small qualms aside, <Shimchong>: Daughter Overboard! is a terrifically performed and well-constructed piece of ambitious theatre.
