She Came from Xinjiang is a performance on the Camden Fringe blending a mix of dancing, singing, and acting.
It is written, directed, and performed by Mikray Tursun.
Alongside her Euan Shedden also acted while Lee Yenling controlled light and music.
An autobiographical performance that she describes as “90% my story, 10% created”, it tells the story of a Uyghur lady from China’s far-western Xinjiang province who moves to London with dreams of performing on the West End stage.
Heading into the performance I was expecting a lighter and positive story showcasing Uyghur culture and about achieving dreams. But it is surprisingly dark.
Between the emotive dances and singing are spots of the challenges faced: heartbreak, homesickness, and even a scene of sexual assault.
Through this, it tells a touching story of chasing your dreams no matter the challenges.
Sharing her cultural heritage is a big part of Mikray’s inspiration to produce this show.
“I’m so happy to use this way to introduce my culture to the people of England, and to people who come from different countries as well.”
This is apparent throughout. She dances in traditional outfits to Uyghur songs, sings in Uyghur, and snippets of video clips showing life in Xinjiang and Uyghur culture are played.
Opening with a video clip introducing Xinjiang and Uyghur culture was a nice touch, though some technical difficulties undercut it. By the third short video during the performance, it had perhaps stretched on a little too long.
Why look away from Mikray demonstrating Uyghur culture in front of our very eyes, to watch a video about it?
The performance’s first showings were held at Etcetera Theatre, before a second series of performances at The Libra, an intimate new performance venue set up by two actresses that has a ground-floor bar and a lower floor converted for small performances.
While nothing is confirmed yet, Mikray has plans to continue the show in the future.
Speaking after the performance on August 1st, Mikray shared her story with China Minutes.
Originally from Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province, she studied Musical Theatre Performance at Shanghai Theatre Academy before building a career first in Shanghai and then home in Urumqi.
Not satisfied with this, Mikray looked for another challenge. “I realize I’m still young. I need more and more knowledge to improve myself and I want to introduce our [Uyghur] culture to the whole world.”
“So I decided to come to UK.”
Here she has pursued two master’s degrees and now works in a front-of-house and backstage role in a theatre. She also works as an independent producer with work in the UK and China.
Getting back on the stage for the first time since coming to the UK was “wonderful” but also challenging at times. Not the least because she was performing in her third language of English.
If anything, this has just made her want to perform more. “After this show, I’m feeling inspired as well. Like, maybe, I need to get back more my old self and to return to the stage. Hopefully, get more auditions and keep on performing.”
Mikray has not yet reached the West End, but at the end of this performance, you will have a deeper understanding of Uyghur culture and a deeper understanding of the difficulties of moving to a new country.
That is undeniably a success.
