Chimerica

Act One

The famous image of 'Tank Man”' is seen projected onto the stage. The scene then moves to a hotel room in Beijing in 1989. It overlooks Tiananmen Square. Joe, a 19-year-old photojournalist, is on the phone to his editor Frank, who is back in America. Joe has been reporting on the riots in the square below and is excited to get the front page coverage of The Herald. As he talks to Frank, he sees a man walk out in front of the Chinese tanks with his grocery bags. Convinced that he is about to watch the man be shot, Joe starts to take photographs from the window. Suddenly, there is a loud banging on the door. Joe hides the roll of film he was using in the toilet and replaces it with bogus film. As Frank listens on the phone, Chinese soldiers burst into Joe’s room, take his camera film, and then beat him up.

The scene now moves forward by 23 years; Joe is now 42. He is on a plane to Beijing with his colleague Mel to report on working conditions in Chinese factories. Next to them