WHO THE HELL IS ROBERT WAYNE? Comes to Camden Fringe

Written in response to cultural loneliness as a North-Western Chinese person living outside of the country, Li Zhuolang’s debut play Who the hell is Robert Wayne? explores identity, cultural architypes and tokenism. After leaving Mainland China at 18 to study in Hong Kong and later moving to the US and eventually settling in the UK, Li starts to feel a growing disconnect from her identity, especially when the world around her seems to reduce her to just where she is from. Navigating an interracial relationship and feeling like a stranger on an “island of strangers”, Lily questions how she can balance her pride for her heritage whilst maintaining an identity of her own. An aspiring actor, Lily fights to play the role of Robert Wayne and his secret superhero identity ‘Ratman’. Inspired by her love of superheroes, but not seeing herself reflected in these stories, Li Zhuolang interrogates the tokenism and archetypes often attached to Chinese and East Asian characters and asks the questions, who gets to be the protagonist and when do labels overpower their story?

Writer and performer Li Zhuolang said, “I think once you tell someone that you are from China, the investigation stops there. There are no more follow-up questions. I just wanted people to take a closer look. I wanted to take them into the head of this one Chinese woman, and hopefully at the end of the show, that label is no longer the most interesting thing about her. I’m really excited to bring this show to Camden because as someone who has always been in love with superheroes, I’ve always wanted to see works that truly incorporates the nuanced experiences of what it is like to be obsessed with the western caped folktales, and coming from a completely different world. I feel like the urge to be seen, and to connect with other humans would really resonate with the audience, and the play is funny whether you happen to be a comic book and superhero fan or not!”

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