Be Gay, For God’s Sake: Literary Consultancy
Even during the incredibly eventful and busy year of 2025, I found time to fit in some literary consultancy on the play Be Gay, For God’s Sake. I really wanted my fellow queer Asian creators to succeed and to amplify these intersectional voices that are so key to global queer dialogues. I’m delighted that after performing at Totnes Fringe, they gained a residency at the Voila Theatre Festival, and won Best New Play at the 2025 Fringe Theatre Awards.
Posted in Events and tagged Asian, award, consultancy, East Asian, ESEA, fringe, intersectionality, play, queer, theatre
Ghost Girl, Gwei Mui 鬼妹
There are many plays about being Chinese in Britain. Yet there was something about “Ghost Girl, Gwei Mui 鬼妹” that struck a chord with me, once a Cantonese girl transplanted from Guangzhou to London half way through her upbringing. Perhaps it was the title, the idea of being a living ghost – the invisible minority, or the daring reverse use of Gwei Mui, the Cantonese insult for foreigners, that prompted me to accept the offer to review this play.
Posted in Events and tagged adoptee, Britain, British Chinese, china, Chinese, Chinese Arts Now, culture, immigration, Jennifer Tang, minority, racism, review, theatre
Forgotten
The largely forgotten history of the Chinese Labour Corps, the 140,000 Chinese men who travelled from the other side of the world to the battlefields of Europe, to carry out supplies and repair work, in aid of the Allies during the First World War, has recently resurfaced in the media and public attention. Few would be better suited as a scriptwriter to a play dedicated to the CLC than Daniel York Loh (“Fu Manchu Complex”, “The Good Immigrant”), who has, among many things, become a leading figure in Britain in raising awareness of and fighting against entrenched racism and discrimination against East Asians.
Posted in Events and tagged china, Chinese, Chinese Labour Corps, culture, Europe, history, theatre, WWI
DiaoChan: the Rise of the Courtesan
I first heard of Red Dragonfly Production last year when they toured the UK with “Autumn of Han”. I was delighted to find a theatre company bringing dramatisations of Chinese stories to the stage. Unfortunately busy schedules meant I missed the show, so it was with great anticipation that I attended the press night for their new play, “DiaoChan: the Rise of the Courtesan”.
Posted in Events and tagged china, Chinese, Chinese culture, courtesan, Diao Chan, Red Dragonfly Productions, review, theatre, Three Kingdoms
Yeh Shen: the World’s First Cinderella
There are some stories which just spring up time and time again, from culture to culture. Certain fears and hopes in the human Psyche that show we’re all basically the same. “Yeh Shen” is one of these, or maybe it’s several, as the Yellow Earth Theatre draws many comparisons in their publicity, and even in the play’s opening scenes, to Cinderella, and proudly announcing that this Chinese fairy tale is the oldest recorded version of the story.
Posted in Events and tagged china, Chinese, Chinese New Year, Cinderella, dance, fairy tale, pantomime, play, puppetry, Spring Festival, theatre, Yellow Earth
Last Days of Limehouse
After Yellow Earth’s fantastic Dimsum Nights, I have been following the troupe’s movements, and when I saw that their new production, charting London’s original China Town, would be performed at the old Limehouse Town Hall, I practically leapt for a ticket. Directed by Gary Merry, and Yellow Earth’s overall artistic director, Kumiko Mendl, I’m very glad I did.
Posted in Events and tagged china, Chinatown, Chinese, conservation, culture, demolition, heritage, Last Days of Limehouse, Limehouse, london, progress, promenade, theatre, Yellow Earth