Full casting has been announced for Kimber Lee’s untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play, directed by Royal Exchange Joint Artistic Director Roy Alexander Weise, playing at the Royal Exchange Theatre as part of Manchester International Festival before transferring to London’s Young Vic Theatre.

Winner of the inaugural Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2019, International Award, this powerful production will play in Manchester from 24 June - 22 July and at the Young Vic from 18 September - 4 November, with tickets on sale now.

Olivier Award nominee Mei Mac (My Neighbour Totoro) leads an ensemble cast 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.

‘Very well. I will do what I must do, Mother.’

Kim is having one of those days. A terrible, very bad, no-good kind of day, and the worst part is...it all feels so familiar. Caught up in a never-ending cycle of events, she looks for the exit but the harder she tries, the worse it gets and she begins to wonder: who's writing this story? She makes a break for it, smashing through a hundred years of bloody narratives that all end the same way. Can she find a way out before it's too late? 

With breathless hilarity untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play jumps through time – wriggling inside of and then exploding 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. 

untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play is designed by Khadija Raza, with costumes by Loren Elstein, lighting by Josh Pharo, composition by Ruth Chan, sound by Giles Thomas, movement by Shelley Maxwell, and casting by Helena Palmer CDG. 

Directed Roy Alexander Weise says: “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!”