lady in the red dress

by David Yee

Max, a lawyer for the Canadian Department of Justice, is losing his mind. In one nightmarish week he has been shot, punched, stabbed, had a heart attack, and is having conversations with dead men. A series of events all set in motion by Sylvia, an elusive figure who enters his life and charges Max with an impossible task. Dragged by his hair into the history of the Chinese Canadian struggle for redress and into the lives of those involved, Max discovers that not only is his life in danger, but also his son's. A modern-day noir, lady in the red dress is a darkly comic story about the skeletons in our closets and the consequences of our inactions told by one of Canada's most unorthodox young playwrights.

Genres: Plays, Read For School

96 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2010

About the author

David Yee is a mixed race (half Chinese, half Scottish) playwright and actor, born and raised in Toronto. He is the co-founding Artistic Director of fu-GEN Theatre Company, Canada’s premiere professional Asian Canadian theatre company. A Dora Mavor Moore Award nominated actor and playwright, his work has been produced internationally and at home. He is a two-time Governor General’s Literary Award nominee for his plays lady in the red dress and carried away on the crest of a wave, which won the award in 2015 along with the Carol Bolt Award in 2013. In 2023 he was named Laureate of the prestigious Siminovitch Prize in Theatre for his groundbreaking work in playwriting. He currently teaches playwriting at the University of Toronto and works extensively in the Asian Canadian community as an artist and an advocate.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also read this for my drama class... interesting

[Jacob Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a riveting and imaginative story. I felt like I was transported to a dark fantasy world, with the actual setting of the narrative located a mere hundred or so feet from my home.

[Jer Lesperance · Rating 4 out of 5]

honestly pretty interesting if anything a little confusing. good catalyst and character development and a neat premise. worth a read.

[Yonathan Asefaw]

Very seductive and compelling read.

[Suhani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5/5

[Gareth Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love the ending of having Danny finally call him dad.
The entire play is quite confusing, so disorienting.
I wish the timeline was made clearer, without the stage directions years would be very unclear.
The play is also very gory and hard to produce because of that.