AziaCity.com: Queer Love

Queer Love
Same-sex love that cuts across time and death is the main theme of two upcoming theatre productions by ACTION Theatre.
By Yong Yung Shin

Interested in these two shows but only have the cash for the stamina for one? Here’s our plot summary so you can make the hard decision.

Hitting (On) Women
In this play on lesbian love, the female protagonist is revisited by the ghost of her ex-lover, who brings heron a journey back to the past, where they try to understand the love and hurt they shared. Playwright Ovidia Yu calls it a comedy, but it also tackles some serious stuff like prejudice, preconceptions andhow exploring oneself can be the most difficult journey of all. The play was written, says Yu, for “anyone who has ever been so much in love as to have the rest of her life out of balance; anyone who cannot imagine ever falling in love that way...as well as those still deciding which category they are going to fit into.” Janice Koh (Proof) shares the stage with Serene Chen (Asian Boys Vol. 2) and Benjamin Ng (Titoudao) in this compelling yet witty performance.
Hitting (on) Women is on Aug 10-19; Tue-Fri, 8pm; Sat-Sun, 3pm, 8pm. The Room Upstairs, 42 WaterlooSt., 6837-0842. $30-40 from Sistic.

Real Men, Fake Orgasms
Unrequited love and unresolved wounds are the focus of Real Men, Fake Orgasms, written by Chong Tze Chien (Furthest North, Deepest South). Against a backdrop of multiple lives and parallel universes,two men fight to sustain their relationship, neither willing to end it. The play promises to be moving and provocative, centralizing around the theme of emotional imprisonment. “I hope the audience willlet themselves be surprised by the brutal honesty and vulnerability portrayed on stage,” says Chong. Of the two main characters—played by Chua EnLai (Shopping & F***ing) and newcomer Claudio Girardi—Chong adds, “They were placed under the microscope and examined; layer by layer, they toretheir hearts out and got under my skin revealing themselves in ways which continue to surprise me even till this day.” Definitely no tissue skimping in this one. —Yong Yung Shin
Real Men, Fake Orgasms is on Aug 30-Sep 9; Tue-Fri, 8pm; Sat-Sun, 3pm, 8pm. The Room Upstairs, 42 Waterloo St., 6837-0842. $30-40 from Sistic.