This Is Not a True Story

The Los Angeles Theatre Center
514 S. Spring St. Los Angeles

Artists at Play in association with Latino Theater Company presents This Is Not a True Story, an exhilarating new comedy that tackles, head-on, the fetishization and anti-Asian racism of Orientalist works. Tired racist tropes are upended as the fictional worlds of Madame Butterfly, Miss Saigon and Kumiko the Treasure Hunter collide with modern reality. Three Asian "tragic heroines" find themselves trapped in a loop they can't control - until they claim agency over their lives, determined to break the cycle.

Thru - Oct 15, 2023

This Is Not a True Story Reviews

Average Rating based on 2 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Stage Raw - Recommended

"...The meaning of the title, This Is Not a True Story, has several layers. Obviously, what Choi has written is not true. Nor is Madame Butterfly or Miss Saigon or, as it turns out, the film about Takako. But when it comes to a truth, as opposed to something true, Choi delivers through the dignity of his characters."

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- G. Bruce Smith

Haines His Way - Recommended

"...Reena Dutt has tightly directed the action on Yuki Izumihara’s platformed setting. She gets detailed performances from her cast and Cho and De Jesus really bring their tragic figures to life. Kumiko is the least developed of the three characters even though she is based on a real person and the other two are fictional. Her story is less well known and has not been embedded in our cultural history for decades. M. Glenn Schuster’s sound design in another character in its own right. Choi has crafted a wonderful new comedy that makes you think differently about the racial stereotyping of our classic literary characters."

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- Rob Stevens

This Is Not a True Story at The Los Angeles Theatre Center