MISS PEONY Will Debut at Belvoir Next Month

Belvoir will debut Miss Peony the bedazzling new play from the writer of 2018 smash-hit Single Asian Female, Michelle Law. An inter-generational comedy for 21st century Australia, Miss Peony will play in the Upstairs Theatre from 3rd July to 1st August 2021.

A glitzy, glamorous and slightly-unhinged dive into the world of beauty pageants, Miss Peony is a multi-lingual production, featuring surtitles in three languages: English, Cantonese and Simplified Chinese.

Lily's grandmother was a beauty queen back in Hong Kong. She doesn't care that times have changed and that Lily lives in a new country and a new century. She realises that Lily's caught between worlds, and prods her to enter the Chinese community beauty pageant, the highly competitive Miss Peony. She won't take no for an answer.

And to make matters worse, she's a ghost.

Directed by Courtney Stewart (starred in Belvoir's Single Asian Female, Dramaturg for STC's White Pearl), Miss Peony's dynamic cast is led by playwright-turned actor Michelle Law (SBS's Homecoming Queens), alongside Gabrielle Chan (SBS's Hungry Ghosts, STC's Chimerica), Jing Xuan-Chan (SBS's The Family Law), Mabel Li (SBS's The Tailings), Charles Wu (Jasper Jones, The Cherry Orchard) and Shirong Wu (Cursed!).

Playwright, Michelle Law said: "Around 5% of the Australian population has Chinese ancestry, and for more than two hundred years we have been part of this nation's history. But so few of our stories are part of Australian theatre. I can't wait to share Miss Peony with our communities and continue building on the history of Chinese diasporas. I wrote Miss Peony with my non-English speaking grandmother in mind. I wanted to share this story about cultural and generational gaps with her, and I hope many other Chinese-speaking grandparents can share it with their children and grandchildren too."

Following its premiere season at Belvoir, Miss Peony will tour to Arts Centre Melbourne and Merrigong Theatre Company in Wollongong.

Tickets: https://belvoir.com.au/productions/miss-peony-3/ or (02) 9699 3444

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