You for Me for You, Royal Court ***

Mia Chung's play is not a Royal Court play. If you go to the upstairs space at the theatre for a metaphorical sledgehammer to the head. They are punchy and to the point holding nothing back. You for Me for You in comparison is a subtle and reserved play, perhaps due to its prior American productions. Despite these differences, however, it is just as powerful and moving as other more blunt productions in the vibrant upstairs space. The play examines the differences and similarities between America and North Korea through the lens of two sisters separated trying to escape the best country in the world. One particularly strong moment for me was the pressure to stand for the national anthem showing that, whilst America is clearly more free than North Korea, similar intimidation and conformity is used in both states and is made especially relevant after the outrage of Corbyn's 'refusal' to sing our national anthem. It deals with the frightening language barrier for immigrants with Daisy Haggard's various American character's speaking things that sound meaningless but taking more meaning on over time as Katie Leung's Junhee learns more of the language. The absurdism of Wendy Kweh's Minhee's journey across North Korea to find her son is harder to get your head around and I still don't quite understand the point being made by Chung here. Richard Twyman's production show these two countrie's obsession with style and facades, with a beautiful design from Jon Bausor hiding the grim and dark reality of both countries. Performances are strong across the board although none stand out as truly great. I still don't quite understand Chung's message in this play but there is still plenty to get from it even without knowing this.