Jane Hutcheon’s acclaimed show about her family history booked for Darwin

Celebrated journalist Jane Hutcheon brings her acclaimed and personal show, Lost in Shanghai, to Darwin stages.

Jane Hutcheon in Darwin. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Celebrated journalist Jane Hutcheon is bringing her show Lost in Shanghai to the Top End with three performances set for the Darwin Entertainment Centre.

Ms Hutcheon takes to the stage to tell the story of her mother and her family’s beginnings in China and their journey through history.

It involves Ms Hutcheon on stage narrating the story through projected photos by Willam Yang and traditional music composed and performed by Dr Terumi Nerushima.

Jane Hutcheon in Darwin hosting workshops on how to best record, curate and collect family stories, before she her brings family tale Lost in Shanghai to Darwin Entertainment Centre. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Ms Hutcheon, who is a former ABC TV presenter, and international foreign correspondent, said she decided to look into the history of her mother, Beatrice, and her family after a visit to Shanghai.

“My mixed-race mum Beatrice, born in Shanghai in the roaring 1920s, was called Eurasian,” she said

“I’ve always wrestled with identity and belonging. Much of that was bound-up with the events of my mum’s traumatic early life.

“I was too busy travelling the world as a journalist, telling other people’s stories, to unravel the story tucked away in my photo albums and family notes.

“A visit to Shanghai in 2018 changed everything. Lost in Shanghai is the story of how I found my Mum, and myself, in the process.”

As part of her trip to Darwin Ms Hutcheon also held workshops at the Chung Wah Society, to teach others how they can discover their history and create their own stories.

Neville Jones, director of the Northern Territory Chinese Museum said it was amazing seeing Ms Hutcheon share her methods during the workshop.

Maria, Rosemary, Michelle, Sheung Mei, Joyce, Mellanie and Lela as Jane Hutcheon in Darwin hosting workshops on how to best record, curate and collect family stories before she her brings family tale Lost in Shanghai to Darwin Entertainment Centre. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“She took a bunch of our seniors through the art of trying to get people to tell their own story,” he said.

“Quite a few of those people have been interviewed in the past to do oral histories but this was an effort to get them to write their own story, which is interesting.

“Jane’s delivery of her workshop was absolutely what I expected and I was very impressed with it.

“Two hours absolutely flew by, we just couldn’t believe it all of a sudden was 12 o’clock.”

Jane Hutcheon’s, Lost in Shanghai, will play at the Darwin Entertainment Centre Friday 23 February at 10.30am and 7.30pm as well as the following Saturday 24 February at 7.30pm.

There will also be post show Q&A sessions following the Friday morning and Saturday evening sessions, tickets are available at yourcentre.com.au.

• The bullet point summary was created with the assistance of AI technology (PaLM2) then edited and approved for publication by an editor.