Review: Untitled f*ck M*ss S**gon Play, at the Royal Exchange, Manchester

Not what you were expecting perhaps...? 

Personally, I love Miss Saigon - there was a time, when the 2014 revival was gathering hype, when I was ON that train. But looking back now, while it is still one of the most beautiful scores you will hear, the older & wiser part of me is going "Yeah but.... it does have it's problems..." 

That would be an understatement for writer Kimber Lee, as her response to the outrage she felt when seeing the revival in New York is this: untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play

On the nose right? 

And interestingly enough, the world premiere of this very play, in Manchester, is overlapping with a revival of Miss Saigon itself in Sheffield, set to challenge some of those stereotypes, one of which being to cast Joanna Ampil as The Engineer. 

Interesting... 

In ufmsp (that is what we're calling it now), we get to see a time loop play out, through the eyes of a young Asian girl, Kim. Starting in 1906 with the premiere of Madam Butterfly, we see the plot of Miss Saigon condensed and played again, and again and again: in a different setting in each time, not just the already mentioned, but also in reference to South Pacific, and stories set in the Korean War such as M*A*S*H. 

Again and again this cycle happens... well those who know the end to Miss Saigon, you know, again and again, different method each time. 

But with each turn, Kim starts to realise something is wrong - culminating into one giant head in the 2nd act of the play. 

The play is pretty much what it says on the tin. A big, fat F You to the negative stereotypes these stories are written and played in Western culture: the oversexualisation of women (while the hero is always a timid virgin of some kind), the white-American Hero complex: and that's just naming two of them. 

It's sharp, it's witty and hard hitting, switching between satirical comedy and traumatic tragedy. 

Leading this protest of a 1-act piece was Mei Mac, doing a complete 180 from her work in My Neighbour Totoro. And I must also mention Rochelle Rose as the Narrator; how she kept a straight face during some of those lines I have no idea. 

I don't really want to say more about ufmsp, as I do think it is one you will want to see for yourselves. If you don't get to see it in Manchester, it is also transferring to the Young Vic later this year. 

And if you are near Sheffield, and see Miss Saigon, please let me know your thoughts, as I am not sure I am going to be able to get over there and see it myself - after the controversy, it's now their move...