“Why do I have to die so you can learn your lesson?” says Kim (Chacha Tahng), the ill-fated character from the Tony Award-winning musical Miss Saigon, in Preston Choi’s This is Not a True Story. She continues on her tirade with her fellow doomed counterparts, CioCio (Julia Cho) from the tragic Madame Butterfly, and Kumiko (Jo Yuan) from the 2014 film, Kumiko: The Treasure Hunter.
“Why did I always obey you?”
“Why did you want to have sex with a fifteen year old girl?”
“Why were all the other girls considered whores, but because I “actually” loved my soldier I was worthy of saving?”
“Why is our tragedy entertaining to you?”
“Why do you keep watching us?”
These are valid questions coming from the three fictional Asian characters, who were all written by white men, fated to tragically commit suicide over the loss of their American lovers.
Directed by Reena Dutt, This is Not a True Story tells the story of CioCio, Kim, and Kumiko who are forced to replay their lives — and trauma — over and over again in what they call “the Void.” Like a page in a script, they are forced to recite their lines from their stories or face an angry voice harshly telling them, “That’s Not Your Line.”
Though the idea of reliving this pain sounds like a dark drama, This is Not a True Story adds some levity to feel like a dark comedy instead by giving the three characters their own personalities and humor– one that was never granted to them before. CioCio annoyingly counts the many replays of her life — realizing her lover is a bad man and, actually, not handsome at all. “His hair is like corn,” she hilariously recalls. “Yellow corn. His eyes are blue round circles with black circles inside of them.”
Other funny moments included the use of baby dolls as the children that CioCio and Kim give birth throughout the story, which is traumatizing at first, but is later seen as a funny bit. For…
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