NHB Modern Plays Scenes from a Repatriation

A daring, shape-shifting play about the controversy around a statue in the British Museum, questioning who can claim cultural artefacts – and why. Premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2025. 'All of human history? It's basically people taking things from each other.' A thousand-year-old statue of the Bodhisattva Guanyin lives in the British Museum. When it emerges that the statue was stolen from its original home, the museum attempts to deflect both the public response and controversial repatriation claims from the Chinese government. As statesmen scheme and grease their palms, beneath the statue, witches dance, a cleaner prays, and spirits weep. Joel Tan's daring, shape-shifting play unfolds the statue's journey from China to Britain and back again, stirring up age-old ghosts and asking who can claim cultural artefacts – and why? Scenes from a Repatriation was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2025, directed by experimental theatre-makers emma + pj.