The Chinese Artist Ai WeiWei has become a universal figure – both for his controversial, political art and for the shocking circumstances surrounding his arrest at the hands of the Chinese government. On April 3 2011, as he was boarding a flight to Taipei, WeiWei was arrested and escorted away by officials, with the sole justification that ‘his travel could damage state security’. His arrest lasted 81 days and upon release, he was simply told that his imprisonment had related to ‘tax evasion’; a convenient façade for a battle over artistic freedom.

‘The Arrest of Ai WeiWei’ is a new play by Howard Brenton which seeks to reveal the events that transpired in those 81 days, based on a direct account from Ai WeiWei to Barnaby Martin as documented in Martin’s book ‘The Hanging Man’. The play starts with WeiWei’s arrest at the hands of the government officials and seeks to truly bring home the confusion, despair and anger that he felt throughout his detention. Despite not being physically beaten, the play pointedly captures the mental anguish to which WeiWei was subjected in the equally harrowing juxtapositions of both irrational interrogations from the officials, owing to their suspicions of what his art is trying to achieve, to long stretches of bleak and unrelenting silence. Each torturous in their own way.

The minimalist set design at times detracted from the intended atmosphere of isolation and imprisonment, however the intensity and range of the actors effectively compensated for this. Despite the serious and startling nature of the events portrayed, Benedict Wong’s performance as Ai Wei Wei shines with pathos, determination and even frequent displays of great humour throughout the play’s 120 minute running time. He is supported by a highly able cast including the two young officials who, after first brutally interrogating him, later show remarkable signs of curiosity and admiration for the artist in what the dramatist refers to as a kind of ‘Stockholm’s Syndrome in reverse’. These scenes aptly exemplify the the arbitrary nature of WeiWei’s arrest and the fact that the regime’s suspicions largely stem from that which they do not understand; Fear borne from ignorance.

A post show Q and A was equally enlightening with the author, dramatist and theatre director taking questions from a captivated audience. A question on my own mind, and one which was soon posed, was the potential effect of the play on WeiWei himself; despite his release, he is a figure still carefully monitored by the Chinese government. However, it was resolutely established that Wei Wei had greatly encouraged the project to go ahead despite the potential risks to his safety; considering that the controversy of his reputation is centred on his very desire to display political attitudes through his art, his admirable resoluteness here is not surprising.

This is an important and powerful play and while the writing, direction and acting should be praised, its greatest strength will be to bring the awareness of WeiWei’s situation to the global public. Thousands tuned in to watch the play digitally when it was streamed and broadcast across the world on the 19th April. For better or worse, this will surely not escape the attention of China’s powers-that-be.

The Arrest of Ai WeiWei is currently showing at The Hampstead Theatre until May 18 2013. To find out more information or to book tickets, please click here.