MIF23: untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play at the Royal Exchange

Created out of an intense frustration around contemporary Asian stereotypes and the way that they are bolstered by Western cultural output, untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play looks set to be a highlight of Manchester International Festival 2023 and the pièce de résistance for another brilliant season of theatre at the Royal Exchange Theatre.

Winner of the inaugural Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2019, International Award

We’re thrilled that this eagerly awaited work will receive its world premiere up north, at the Royal Exchange, as part of MIF23, before transferring to the Young Vic Theatre, London in Autumn.

Directed by Roy Alexander Weise (The Mountaintop), Lee’s prize-winning play promises to be strikingly perceptive, funny and razor-sharp. Described as “born of rage” and the idea of “feeling invisible” and “misrepresented”, the play focuses on Kim, a female character who is trying to break a never-ending cycle of events. The more she tries to search for an exit and a way out, the worse it gets…smashing lifetimes of perpetual Asian stereotypes and grappling with history – will Kim find a way out before it’s too late?

The pièce de résistance for another brilliant season of theatre at the Royal Exchange.

The super-talented cast is headed up by Olivier award nominee Mei Mac (My Neighbour Totoro) as Kim, with Lourdes Faberes, Jennifer Kirby, Tom Weston-Jones, Rochelle Rose and Jeff D’Sangalang completing the impressive ensemble.

Of the play, Mei Mac told us, “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.”

Winner of the inaugural Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2019, International Award, untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play will take centre stage at the Royal Exchange, just as Sheffield Theatres present a new version of Miss Saigon, directed by Anthony Lau and Robert Hastie. untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play is an excellent example of the transformative power of theatre – we know which side of the Pennines you’ll find us on.

The play is co-produced by Royal Exchange Theatre, Factory International for Manchester International Festival, Young Vic and Headlong.