Forgotten
Arcola Theatre, London

DANIEL YORK LOH'S Forgotten is the kind of drama that reinforces the Arcola’s unique and commanding position in London theatre.

Embracing cultural diversity through a real story that has been largely erased from the history books, it's not only moving and funny but exceptionally profound as it cracks open some of the distinctive mysteries of the Chinese soul for a Western audience many of whom, sadly, know far too little about it.

Kim Pearce's production forces us to remember and value the lives of almost 140,000 Chinese workers who were recruited to support the Allied forces on the Western Front in the first world war. The Chinese Labour Corps performed essential functions such as digging trenches and clearing the dead from the battlefields, as well as risking their lives — around 3,000 died.

And though the corps almost single-handedly steered China into a new equality with the rest of the world, all are virtually erased from Western memorials and none features in armistice ceremonies.

At that time, China was poised on the brink of change. The emperor had been effectively deposed, relations with Japan were tense, new thinking was challenging the Confucian heritage and there was a growing urge to create equality for China in the modern world. Meanwhile labourers were illiterate, ten-a-penny and often nameless.

That's the context for the play in which three men and a eunuch cross continents from the Shandong province to the front lines where they will support an army that despises them. Old Six (Michael Phong Le), Big Dog (Camille Mallet De Chauny), Eunuch Lin (Zachary Hing) and The Professor (Leo Wan) form the small group of volunteers who make it to the front. Back home, Old Six’s wife (Rebecca Boey) is forced to kill the Headman (Jon Chew) to avert unwanted attentions.

It may be a tale of hardship, but the joy is in the telling. Performed with an almost Brechtian challenge, the play immerses us in Chinese culture through music and movement, history and legend, sing-song language, the power and poetry of the spirit, opium pipes, gambling, insults and jokes.

Meanwhile the deeply empathetic characters, portrayed by a passionate cast, bond so closely with us that not only do they become our friends but we sense their spirits grow, transcending their faceless anonymity.

Highly recommended and a fitting tribute to those who sacrificed.

Runs until November 17, box office: arcolatheatre.com. For more information about the Chinese Labour Corps, visit forgottenclc.co.uk.