Kimber Lee’s new play untitled f*ck mss s**gon play, directed by Roy Alexander Weise, has announced casting.
Winner of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting International Award, the play will have its world premiere at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester from 24 June to 22 July 2023 as part of Manchester International Festival 2023, before transferring to the Young Vic Theatre in London from 18 September to 4 November 2023.
Olivier Award nominee Mei Mac (My Neighbour Totoro) will star in the show as Kim, with Lourdes Faberes (Boiling Point) as Rosie / Cio-Cio, Jennifer Kirby (Call the Midwife) as Evelyn / Richards, Tom Weston-Jones (Sanditon) as Clark, Rochelle Rose (Rockets and Blue Lights) as the Narrator / Brenda, and Jeff D’Sangalang (The Ocean At The End Of The Lane) as Afi/Goro.
untitled fck mss s**gon play promises to jump through time to explode 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.
The production is designed by Khadija Raza, with costume design by Loren Elstein, lighting design by Josh Pharo, composition by Ruth Chan, sound design by Giles Thomas, movement by Shelley Maxwell, fight and intimacy direction by Haruka Kuroda, Jerwood Assistant Director is Caroline Yu and casting by Helena Palmer CDG.
Olivier award nominee Mei Mac is best known for playing Mei Kusakabe in the world premiere My Neighbour Totoro at the Barbican theatre, which is back in London this November 2023. Her other stage credits include Dear Elizabeth (Gate Theatre), Five Plays – Tongues (Young Vic), The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Bridge Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Under The Umbrella (Belgrade/Tamasha/Yellow Earth Theatre), and The Hundred And One Dalmatians (Birmingham Rep). TV credits include: East Mode (Comedy Central) and Call The Midwife (Neal Street Productions).
The play is a Royal Exchange Theatre, Factory International for Manchester International Festival, Young Vic Theatre and Headlong co-production.
Star of the play Mei Mac said in a statement: “I’m thrilled to be bringing Kimber Lee’s play to life. It’s a bold and delicious opportunity to reclaim the narrative of East and South East Asian women in the diaspora, from years of dehumanisation and denied agency. It’s empowering to explore the conversations I’ve had with my sisters and in my communities with a wider audience in such a fun, spicy, theatrical way. A genre, timeline defying way. Because that’s what’s so exciting about this play; its refusal to be reduced by the patriarchy and its determination to take full autonomy.”
Writer Kimber Lee said: “I cannot wait to get in the rehearsal room with this wonderful cast! A play craves embodiment, and I’m looking forward to getting to know these incredibly gifted actors, and seeing how each person brings their humor, intelligence and passion to the process.”
Director Roy Alexander Weise said: “When I first read Kimber’s play it blew me away and I knew we had to programme it. We received it on the first day of our tenure so it’s serendipitous that it’s my last production as Artistic Director. It’s the greatest privilege to be asked to direct this brilliantly funny, uniquely voiced and skilfully crafted masterpiece. We’ve pulled together an amazing team to shape the story ready for the stage. The cast are fantastic and I can’t wait to get into a rehearsal room and to show the world how f*cking funny Kimber’s play is. I can’t wait!”
More about tickets to untitled f*ck mss s**gon play at the Young Vic in London
Young Vic Theatre, London
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