In the Bag

The first contemporary play from China to be seen in Britain - a vivid story of ordinary lives caught up in Beijing's economic revolution.

Premiered at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh 'Must Have', 'Dream Shop', 'Clear Trend' - present day Beijing is alive with aspirational buzz words.

Faced with new possibilities, two couples are caught in the midst of China's latest cultural revolution.

A young office manager finds himself rostered to work 39 days in a 31-day month.

His wife has a spending habit she says she can manage but a pregnancy she can't.

His older brother, a novelist whose book is never quite finished, is trying to leave his girlfriend but never quite reaches the door.

As for her, she's already engaged to someone else...

Translated, the Chinese phrase 'In the Bag' means both 'safe and secure', as well as 'trapped and contained'.

Hard-edged but tender, ex-journalist Wang Xiaoli's play explores a culture torn between its history and its contemporary reality.

All four protagonists seem like corks bobbing on the surface of a society more interested in burgeoning consumerism than in deeper-seated values. In the Bag premiered at the Traverse Theatre Edinburgh in a robust version by Scottish playwright, Ronan O'Donnell