Tiananmen Annie

When she was 21, Ann Starbuck went to China and here she revisits that adventure and brings us along. It was 1988, the country was under Mao’s punitive Communist rule and this gal was alone, hardly spoke Chinese and, in spite of a number of panic attacks, loved being there and seeing the Great Wall and other famous sites. As a student she was protected from the harsher rules her new friends lived under yet, being an intrepid traveler, she managed to become part of the local people’s lives. A job as gopher for a CNN camera crew brought her into the heart of the student uprising and the 1989 protest in Tiananmen Square that ended in a massacre by the Red Army. She portrays a number of characters, Chinese and American in a charming effortless w... full review

This was not a show I had meant to see. But, a gap opened in my schedule and this play was a convenient plug. Now I have seen some amazing work at this Fringe. There were a few shows where I was almost tempted to stand and join the ovation they received. At “Tiananmen Annie” I lead the ovation. This is excellent, excellent work.... full review

When I heard about TIANANMEN ANNIE at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, I knew I had to see it since I visited Tiananmen Square in 2008 just prior to the Beijing Olympics and knew the immense emotional power of the place. As a college student and member of the Baby Boom generation, examining our society and working toward social revolution via protesting was always important to me. So when I went to China, I took along my I Love Tweety tee-shirt so I could take a picture of myself proudly wearing an American icon when I was standing in the middle of the place where students were willing to speak up and even die to take a stand against oppression, creating a worldwide revolution in the process. After all, the Berlin Wall fell just five mon... full review