Untitled, F**k M*ss S**gon at The Young Vic
Can a woke play about the tired, cliched representation of Asian culture and women by western white guys be entertaining? F**k yes! A play that has a repeating loop from Madame Butterfly via South Pacific, Mash and The World of Susie Wong, with each iteration bringing the stereotypical western viewpoint into clearer focus. At the centre of this we have ‘Kim’ (an impressive Mei Mac) forced to repeat her tragic story over and over again and becoming increasingly frustrated with her lot. It’s sharply funny, for example the made-up language ' kimono sushi ohio' being spoken by the square-jawed Clark (Tom Weston Jones) and Kim's increasingly frantic attempts to break out of the stereotypical narrative she's being forced into. When we reach the modern day and it’s clear that atrocious liberties are still being taken, the Kim and the play get properly cross and more than a bit meta. Can Kim get out of the loop that she is trapped in, even in modern day America? Can 'Brenda' the narrator (Rochelle Rose) help her or is she trapped too? Good questions, and not all positive answers, but it has a satisfying ending anyway. Loved it. Excellent cast, lots of fun and highly recommended.
A young and appreciative audience again with no annoying interruptions but I have to also comment that this is yet another play without an interval. I appreciate a concise play but, leaving aside my distress at the lack of an ice-cream break, I am beginning to think there is an ongoing experiment to test the strength of the theatre going public’s collective bladder. At some point there will be a breaking point and things could get messy.
Happy Gas by Sarah Lucas
Before we headed over to the Young Vic we spent some time at the new Sarah Lucas exhibition at Tate Britain. The blown up images of tabloid articles from the 1990's were actually quite shocking in their end of the pier knockabout misogyny. I really enjoyed the various chair figures (Cross Doris was my favourite - I felt an affinity!!) but we spent ages puzzling over the cigarette covered car and the unusual ways cigarettes were being used in general. I think it’s fair to say that a clear eyed look at sex and mortality are always on the menu, heavily laced with a good dose of humour too. I found myself smiling even if I didn’t really understand what I was looking at. But why wouldn’t you smile at an enormous concrete sandwich with an occupied toilet on top?
By the way, I like that there was a cat in the form of a Tit Tom in every room.
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