Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play Review (MIF23)

by Sacha Crowther

Have you ever sat through a Rogers & Hammerstein musical thinking “wow, this really hasn’t aged well”? Indeed have you looked around in any theatre whilst wondering “in what time period was this ever ok?!”? If so, then the latest show at the Royal Exchange is for you.

As its title suggests, Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play is forthright in its critique of theatrical canon. At once hilarious and cutting, Kimber Lee’s Bruntwood Prize winning script shines a telling light on the unapologetically racist and formulaic musicals that have come before.

Set in the round, with an offstage narrator, we immediately plunge into a markedly different retelling of well-known stories. The characters become comedic caricatures, confined to a purposefully shallow storyline, all taking place within a hut indigenous to “elsewhere”. With a set of multifunctional jigsaw pieces, designer Khadija Raza cleverly transports us from the south Pacific to Saigon. All whilst the cast reenact the same doomed love story again and again.

Mei Mac as Kim, and Lourdes Faberes as her stereotypically overbearing mother.

Mei Mac takes on the central role of Kim: a ubiquitous Asian female character, denied autonomy or personality… until now. The first act forces Kim to chase the American dream through the form of a male white saviour. The second sees her still chasing freedom in the West, rejecting the norms and expectations cast upon her. Courtesy of a newfound transcendental awareness, Kim shatters the stereotypes that have bound her and her sisters who came before.

As Clark (in his many forms) Tom Weston-Jones navigates an impeccably written script of mistranslated nonsense. He imbues the right dose of clichéd meaning into a careful combination of random sounds and familiar foreign words, to superb comic effect.

Just as we teeter on the impending brink of too much repetition, the production side-steps the formulaic structure beautifully. Leaping into fast-forward, the cast ridicule the famous productions that precede them with energetic physicality.

Then, suddenly, we burst forth into 2023. The modern day experience of the once exotic “other”.

Here we meet characters who paint a charming picture of intergenerational communication and dreams that don’t revolve around white, heteronormative romance. We also meet Jennifer Kirby’s hilarious depiction of a woke white woman who “really does understand how you feel”. The cast balance one another, playing well-deserved frustration against bitter irony throughout.

In a shift from the show’s pervasive sardonic wit, Lourdes Faberes picks up the narrator’s microphone and offers a direct address to the production’s political message. Indeed the narrator’s microphone is a vehicle for truth-telling throughout.

As the omniscient narrator, Rochelle Rose is captivating. She has obvious fun with her god-like role, challenging the on-stage cast to enact her whims. Encircling the stage, Rose’s character enjoys poking fun at the plots that shackle her castmates - from a position of enlightenment beyond the stage’s edge.

Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play is inescapably redolent of the 2022 smash hit Everything Everywhere All At Once. This production similarly flexes the boundaries of time, space, and the fourth wall. It was born to be performed in the round.

Director, Roy Alexander Weise and company have crafted a high octane performance that is both bloody funny and entirely thought-provoking. Just like the asterisks in the show’s title, the company serve up an evening of theatre that’s bitingly political, yet careful to avoid explicit preaching.

Quite rightfully billed as one of the year’s must-see shows, the world premiere run of Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play plays until 22nd July, as part of Manchester International Festival (MIF) 2023. For more information and tickets, visit the Royal Exchange Theatre website.