Forgotten story on London stage

The little-known story of Chinese workers who served on the Western Front during World War I has been brought to a theater in London via an original stage play.

Forgotten, which was written by UK playwright and actor Daniel York Loh, was inspired by the true story of the 140,000 Chinese men recruited in 1916 by the British and French militaries to provide support to front-line soldiers. York Loh is of British and Singaporean descent.

The contribution of these unsung heroes was barely recognized at the end of the war, and York Loh set out to tell the story of the tremendous effort made by the laborers during the conflict. They were ultimately “completely forgotten and wiped out of history” and “uncelebrated”, he said.

“I don’t think anything sums up how invisible the Chinese traditionally are in the Western world, despite being a very large immigrant community,” York Loh said. “Nothing sums up that invisibility, that lack of consideration, that lack of acknowledgment, more than the World War I Chinese Labour Corps. It was a huge contribution, let’s make no bones about that.”

York Loh first wrote the play as a five-minute production, but, after eight months of research and delving into the history books, he went on to develop it into a fulllength play.

“I read a lot of books about the Chinese Labour Corps, about World War I, about the Chinese history and political

I don’t think anything sums up how invisible the Chinese traditionally are in the Western world.”

Daniel York Loh, UK playwright and actor

situation at that point. At one point ... it had 300 pages, and it had 25 characters,” he said.

The Chinese title of the play means “forgotten, erased or left behind”.

The play follows fictional members of an amateur Chinese theater troupe in Shandong province and the opportunities in Europe that were presented to them.

“There is obviously a huge tragic and sad undertone to the play but, at the same time, I wanted to celebrate the spirit of human resistance and the spirit of the Chinese people … the spirit of people wanting to leave a story behind,” York Loh said.

Forgotten not only reflects the forgotten 140,000 Chinese laborers, York Loh says, but it also represents the overlooked and “invisible” British East Asian community and shines the spotlight on British East Asian actors.

The piece is a coproduction of Moongate Productions and Yellow Earth Theatre and is directed by Kim Pearce. It is showing at the Arcola Theatre in London until Nov 17.