Untitled Fuc* M*ss S**gon Play - REX Manchester / Young Vic

In future, please share a link! Just because I needed to know more for context! Almost wondered if this was parody.

www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/nov/22/play-born-of-rage-over-asian-stereotypes-miss-saigon-kimber-lee

Cast announced: www.whatsonstage.com/manchester-theatre/news/mei-mac-set-to-star-in-untitled-fck-mss-sgon-play_58898.html

The full cast includes WhatsOnStage Award and Olivier Award nominee Mei Mac (My Neighbour Totoro) as Kim, 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.

I guess the lack of title IS the title

but yes it's a play

Not sure whether we should have a moratorium on swear words in play titles or if it should be allowed to continue as a strong signal to potential ticketbuyers that the writer is neither big nor clever.

I'm at the 1st preview next Saturday. Looking at the show info on the REX website, it is saying a runtime of 1hr 50 minutes (approx) straight through. Happy days.

So I’m here tonight for the 1st preview. Had a quick peak inside the auditorium and the tech crew are still at work on the stage. Not much set inside at the moment but outside I’ve spotted a fake supermarket style fish counter and some furniture probably from IKEA.

A few thoughts from last night's viewing. The good news is that this is a straight through play which was running at around the 2hr mark last night so anybody booking for an evening show at the YV will be able to get home early.

The play is very much a time travel / dream piece which uses a narrator (Rochelle Rose) at the edge of the edge of the stage. We start off in 1906 with Madama Butterfly before moving onto 1949 and South Pacific, then the 1950s with the Korean War and then the 1975 with Vietnam / Miss Saigon era before quickly moving onto 2023.

It is in this part of the play where the humour is both in the narration and through Kim and Clark's (her love interest) relationship as well as Kim's relationship with her family through a continuous cycle of hope and despair/anguish. In these scenes, we also get a bit of music with songs excerpts from Tina Turner, Cool and the Gang, Debarge, Chaka Karn, Rick James.

Whilst I'd say the first 80 or so was of a comical tone, the last 30 minutes of so is the more serious one in the writing as the play moves to modern day. The point I think that Kimber Lee is trying to make with regards to the representation of the Asian community on screen and how they react to that is made in this part with a long speech given by Kim's mother which is aimed at the audience rather than a particular on-stage character. I certainly found this part of the play heavy going in light of the preceding comical parts.

There are only really 2 large set pieces - a hut-like dwelling with Asian decoration used in the 1906-1975 sections and a modern flat setting for the 2023 section that has come straight from an IKEA showroom.

As a first preview I thought that cast worked well together and the audience response was very positive at the end. We managed to get through the evening without any technical hitches.

Whilst I enjoyed it mainly for the comedy bits, in all honesty it isn't something has made me rush back and book for a second viewing.

Saw this on Saturday and I really enjoyed it as well. It’s certainly an interesting angle on the subject and a sharp piece of writing. Reviews have been very good and I think it will find an audience at the Young Vic.

Just come out of tonight's show and I really enjoyed it.
I preferred the first part, thought the humour was well done.
Loads of empty seats so doesn't seem to be selling well but got a good response from the audience tonight. Glad I managed to get a ticket under the 'pay what you like' scheme.

What a banger of a play. Incredible with its observation and commentary. An incredibly hard working cast that lifts a very thought provoking piece of writing.

Two very strong plays in a row from REX, a reassuring year after a wobbly recovery post-covid, I hope this is them back on track now.

The title certainly isn't great (too long as well as the awkward word), but it's more the format which is currently causing me to hesitate as from the comments above (and reviews online), I can't make sense of it and don't want to end up seeing it and still being none the wiser, so frustrated at wasting precious time I could have used to see something else.