Chinese Boxing at OSO The Theatre on Barnes Pond

What do you get when an ex-British ambassador, a Qing Dynasty rebellion, and a dash of unexpected roleplay collide? You get ‘Chinese Boxing’, a smart, stirring, and slightly surreal solo show that digs deep into the complicated history between China and the West.

The setting: July 1912. The Republic of China is barely five months old. Sir Claude MacDonald, former ambassador in Peking, is in Barnes to give a talk to the local Royal Asiatic Society. Topic: ‘China and the West Today’. But things take a theatrical turn fast.

Instead of a straightforward lecture, you’re whisked back to Peking in 1900, smack in the middle of the Boxer Rebellion – a bloody, chaotic siege where Chinese rebels surrounded the foreign legations for 55 days. Sir Claude was there. He led the defence. Now he’s re-living it.

But here’s the twist: the audience is mistaken for a visiting foreign delegation to the Imperial Palace. They hear the Chinese side of the story – and it might upend everything you thought you knew.

Mark Kitto spent nearly two decades in China. ‘Chinese Boxing’ is part memoir, part history, part mind-bender. It isn’t just a history lesson. It’s a sharp, immersive ride through a turning point in modern Asia – and a reminder that there’s always more than one side to the story.