Review

The Poison of Polygamy (La Boite Theatre & Sydney Theatre Company)

An epic tale full of flawed characters and moral quandaries adapted from the earliest Chinese-language novel published in Australia.

Roundhouse Theatre, Brisbane, Queensland

Reviewed on 11 May, 2023

by Elise Lawrence on 13 May, 2023

Opening La Boite’s 2023 season, The Poison of Polygamy is a sprawling family saga playing out across years and continents, from the opium dens of Qing China to the Victorian goldfields and the early days of Melbourne’s Chinatown.

Directed by La Boite’s Artistic Director Courtney Stewart, the play is adapted by Anchuli Felicia King from the earliest Chinese-language novel in Australia, and possibly the West. Written by Wong Shee Ping, and translated into English by Ely Finch in 2019, it was originally published in 53 instalments in The Chinese Times, a Chinese-language newspaper in Melbourne, from 1909-1910.

Presented as a “social homily”, The Poison of Polygamy is narrated by The Preacher, delivering a sermon from beyond the grave. His epic tale follows Sleep-Sick, an opium addict who leaves behind his long-suffering wife Ma to seek gold in Australia. In search of riches, Sleep-Sick and his countrymen face hardships including stormy seas, collapsing mineshafts, and discrimination and violence from the European miners.