untitled f*ck m*ss s**g*n play

by Kimber Lee

Kim is having one of those days. A terrible, very bad, no-good kind of day, and the worst part is...it all feels so familiar. Caught up in a never-ending cycle of events, she looks for the exit but the harder she tries, the worse it gets and she begins to wonder: who's writing this story? She makes a break for it, smashing through a hundred years of bloody narratives that all end the same way. Can she find a way out before it's too late?

With breathless hilarity, Kimber Lee’s untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play jumps through time – wriggling inside of and then exploding lifetimes of repeating Asian stereotypes, wrestling history for the right to control your own narrative in a world that thinks it can tell you who you are.

Genres: Plays

128 pages, Paperback

Published June 29, 2023

Reviews

[Theo Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

started reading on the plane - wasn't quite sold in the first half: it felt repetitive, and devices felt unclear to me. but when we shifted into the present, it all came together and made sense. really fascinating play - not sure about the angle it takes when approaching this material/moment but appreciated its boldness and assertiveness and palpable frustration. very interesting comparisons to be made to 'fairview' and 'an octoroon' and maybe even 'slave play' (for its thoughts on interracial relationships). the stagecraft/set design baked into the play text is also really interesting - now I wish I'd seen it staged to understand it better.

[Lex Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this on a train and had to hold in my laughter. Kimber Lee has created a hilarious, tense and genre-bendy satire of the last 100 years of Asian representation in American media. From Madame Butterfly, M*A*S*H, and the eponymous musical that shall not be named, no stone is left unturned but, as Lee points out, its always just the same stone in different clothes.

I won’t pretend to fully understand the ending, its one that’ll sit with me for a while. But thats fine because I’ll be rereading it many times.

[aly liew who · Rating 5 out of 5]

dream role, could write a million essays about this (and already have btw). so satirical and emotional. discusses violence against asian women without glorifying it.

saw a production of this in london at the young vic 2 years ago, and haven’t spent a day not thinking about it since. i love how in that specific production, we never really need to see graphic depictions of the violence discussed to feel the weight of its impact, and how generations of asian women carry that trauma even if they don’t know where it comes from

[Daria · Rating 5 out of 5]

play about asian women's generational trauma that's handled in such a delightfully comedic way whilst still keeping its serious themes and the character's desperation alive. We laugh through the story because we feel uncomfortable and then we laugh because that's how we cope, that's how kim copes in the play. The blend between comedy and tragedy is great and I have been left fully inspired. Clark speaking in gibberish was my favourite part.

[Cora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was suggested this from a friend. I thought that it was really interesting! I really enjoyed the way that it interacted with the stereotypical racist tropes that have been found in musicals. To be honest I was nervous going into reading this, as I didn't know much about Miss Saigon, and thought i may have needed to know a bit about that to get this, but I didn't need to. I think that this is a worthwhile read, if you have been thinking about reading it!

[zz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Between raising a family and putting food on the table, who had time for worrying about whether there were Asian characters in a movie? If I wanted to see Asian faces, all I had to do was turn sideways and wahh - there would be ten of them staring back at me. My parents, my brothers, my sisters, my aunts and uncles and cousins. No shortage of Asian faces in my household, believe me.

[Cayne Kitagawa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hard hitting play that gives what are usually racist tropes a different perspective to unravel the truth of the media we consume, the world we live in, and the reality of our history.

[lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

love it