Little Emperors

小皇帝

‘Little Emperor Syndrome’ is a term used to describe the behavioural time-bomb created by China’s One Child Policy. Introduced in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution as a way of curbing population growth, an entire generation was raised without siblings. Pampered, entitled, and bucking against China’s proud tradition of filial piety, the children of the world’s next superpower were born bearing the weight of their parents’ expectations.

In 2016 China’s One Child Policy officially ended, and to mark the close of an era, we’ve teamed up with award-winning Australian writer Lachlan Philpott and one of Beijing’s most innovative directors, Wang Chong, to explore the stories, secrets and aspirations of the children of a radical political experiment. Set in both Melbourne and Beijing, and weaving between Mandarin and English, this rich and revelatory new play cuts through our assumptions to take us deep into the lives of a generation of secret and only children.