Janet (Jo Freer) is at home in Wishaw. Hui Ting (Amber Lin) is on the other side of the world, in one of a hundred factories in a hundred cities in China, and a long way away from her home village. Janet is trying, against the odds of teenage angst, to make her daughter's sixteenth birthday party as perfect as possible. Ting is trying, against the odds of a strict workplace regime, to earn enough of a bonus, start up her own restaurant, and get her fifteen year old daughter to return from the village. Janet is buying all kinds of stuff that she's being told are essential, like dangling sparkly aubergines. Ting spends long hours every day packing sparkly aubergines into boxes. One box from Ting ends up on Janet's kitchen table. But this one contains a scribbled note from the packer, and unleashes Janet's inner sleuth, taking her down an unexpected path.
A contrast between the consumer West and producer East, and what others suffer for the rubbish we all buy and don't need. The expectations of the two teenagers couldn't be more different, but the women have more in common that just a note, trapped in a life that dictates to them, but in very different ways.
The action alternates between the pair, with the two intercutting more and more frequently as the plot unfolds. While the underlying themes are serious, there's plenty of laughs, especially from Freer who displays great comic timing. Lin is equally good, but there are times when her lines feel a bit too didactic, labouring the point being made. Despite that this was very enjoyable, and makes the point well enough. But what does a happy ending look like to two such different characters?
Another solid addition to the Play, Pie, Pint canon.
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