Miss Peony 牡丹小姐 to make highly anticipated debut at Arts Centre Melbourne

Originally set for stages in 2020, a massive Australian tour by Belvoir Street Theatre in collaboration with AsiaTOPA, Arts Centre Melbourne and Queensland Performing Arts Centre presents a comeback moment for the Miss Peony team.

“I’m so excited to finally be sharing Miss Peony with Australia after two false starts due to Covid. Third time’s a charm, right?,” said Michelle Law.

“This year we’ll be touring our debut season, bringing all of the glitz, glamour and ghostliness of Miss Peony to cities across the east coast of Australia. Miss Peony will be performed in English, Cantonese and Mandarin (with surtitles in all three languages), making it inclusive for multilingual friends and family members. Join us at the theatre for an evening of laughter, tears, and pageantry!”.

Miss Peony is a bold new comedy about our good old need for connection – to family, the past, the future, each other.

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 sees a granddaughter caught between worlds. So Poh Poh pushes Lily into entering the highly competitive Miss Peony, and no matter how hard Lily tries to wriggle out of it, her grandma won’t take no for an answer.

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

Creatively diverse as a writer, author and performer, Michelle Law is set to flex her artistic muscles in the lead role of Lily in Miss Peony. Law was recently acknowledged as ‘Most Influential Young Asian-Australian’ in the Arts & Culture category, joining brother Benjamin as a recipient.

She has excelled across multiple disciplines over her career, with widespread acclaim for Single Asian Female (2019 – present), co-creation on award winning SBS series Homecoming Queens and author of Asian Girls are Going Places (2022).

“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,” she says.

As in real life, the characters will switch between three different languages English, Cantonese, and Mandarin – with all three surtitled.

“Around 5% of the Australian population has Chinese ancestry, and for more than 200 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,” Law says.

Directed by Courtney Stewart (who starred in Belvoir’s Single Asian Female and directed STC’s White Pearl), Miss Peony’s 牡丹小姐 dynamic cast features Michelle Law alongside Gabrielle Chan (SBS’s Hungry Ghosts, STC’s Chimerica), Jing Xuan-Chan (SBS’s The Family Law), Mabel Li (SBS’s The Tailings), Shirong Wu (Cursed!) and Charles Wu (Secret City, Doctor Doctor, Harrow).

Miss Peony 牡丹小姐 – Simplified Chinese translation

牡丹小姐

2023年 8月2日– 8月20日

全球首映！

编剧 罗敏仪

导演 Courtney Stewart

楼上剧场

2小时20分钟 （包括中场休息20分钟）

牡丹小姐情节涉及不雅用语，抽吸药草和电子烟以及烟雾的使用。

如对剧场时长、内容预警或任何其他有关舞台剧的问题，请致电02 9699 3444向售票处职员查询。

一部关于选美小姐、期望过高和家庭关系的清新喜剧。

冬冬的婆婆曾经是香港小姐冠军。

尽管时代变迁，现今冬冬生活在一个新的国家和世纪，她都并不在乎。

她看到孙女被夹在两个世界中、左右为难。

所以婆婆逼迫冬冬参选竞争激烈的牡丹小姐，无论冬冬如何尝试挣扎脱身，她的婆婆都不会接受「不」。

更糟的是，婆婆是一只鬼。

豪华瞩目又滑稽怪诞，创新大胆喜剧牡丹小姐讲述了我们基本的人际关系需求—对家庭、过去、未来、和彼此之间。

这将会是我们史无前例，第一次同时使用三种语言演出：在现场，角色会从英语切换至广东话和普通话，全场演出均提供三种语言字幕。

作为一位天生艺人，罗敏仪对喜剧有百发百中的幽默感。

她的上部作品《单身亚洲女人》用热情洋溢的活力和与温馨治愈的家庭写照点亮了Belvoir剧院。

牡丹小姐将更上一层楼。一众才华横溢的女班子（及资深演员Charles Wu）将呈献这场玩世不恭、发自肺腑的演出。