Going Down

An Asian-Australian Sex and the City set in Melbourne.

Natalie, a Hmong-Australian writer, who after the lukewarm reception of her semi-autobiographical sex-positive debut ‘Banana Girl’, aims to reboot her career with an even more sexually explicit memoir titled, ‘A Hundred Cocks in Hundred Nights’. Her rebellion against society insistence of migrant stories from identity writers of non-white background, and the success of her arch nemesis Lu Lu Jayadi, a younger and more successful writer, who capitalised on her family refugee stories, sends Natalie spiralling out of control. And onto a journey of self-discovery, where she reconnects with her refugee mother and migrant roots. Only through her career come down does she come to terms with her identity as both the daughter of a migrant and a modern Asian-Australian woman.

New Australian play written by Michele Lee.

A Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company co-production.

Director: Leticia Cáceres

Malthouse

Sydney Theatre Company

...literary darling Lu Lu Jayard, is masterfully portrayed by Jenny Wu, who, like all protagonists of the evening, incarnates in a variety of roles, including some intentionally silly yet highly entertaining cameos.

Scene Point Blank
Wu makes an infuriatingly calm and self-possessed foil for her… It’s rare to see such a nimble, fresh comic vision from a new Australian playwright, and this production does it justice.

The Age
Jenny Wu is also to be commended for her versatility in playing multiple roles that are distinctive – I loved watching her play Lu Lu Jayadi (Natalie’s arch-nemesis) to a poor homeless woman to Natalie’s mother.

The Joy House
Jenny Wu chameleons as the naive, rather likeable Lu Lu, all the more convincingly when she embodies the too-fleeting character of Natalie’s mother.

The Music
Wu does sensitive, warm work here… This is a sharp script by a compelling new Australian voice, and is given the merry, thoughtful production of its dreams by Cáceres and cast.

Time Out
Jenny Wu, as Lu Lu and also Natalie’s mum, is sweetly subversive in both roles, as her characters deal with Natalie’s excesses.

The Australian

…the true strength of this production is in its actors.

Honi Soit
An outrageously funny new play about sex, literature and spiralling out of control…

Arts Review
While one could quite simply enjoy Going Down for the joyous blend of its wit and slapstick, don’t be mistaken – there is depth behind the pom-pom earrings and yarn-bombed bollards.

The Conversation
Director Leticia Cáceres has put together an inventive show, charming in its quirkiness. Her ability to infuse each moment of Going Down with layers of meaning, keeps us engaged, with both our instinctual and intellectual capacities.

Suzy Goes See
It is refreshing to see stories from non-white Australians on stage and to be reminded that there is more to them than just where they came from. For Asian Australians there is a definite relatability and Lee ensures the laughs aren’t centred on stereotypes, opting for universal experiences to garner the reactions whilst having race be a more subtle undertone, reminding us how similar we really are.

Broadway World
Michele Lee is such an exciting voice in Australian drama right now, and this co-production with STC and Malthouse helped spread a love for her that will no doubt continue to grow. A riotously funny satire on cultural expectations and the limits of identity politics, it was also a poignant and profound commentary on ancestry and the debts we owe.

Going Down named as one of the 10 best theatre shows on Melbourne stages in 2018.
Timeout Melbourne.

Going Down

...literary darling Lu Lu Jayard, is masterfully portrayed by Jenny Wu, who, like all protagonists of the evening, incarnates in a variety of roles, including some intentionally silly yet highly entertaining cameos.

Wu makes an infuriatingly calm and self-possessed foil for her… It’s rare to see such a nimble, fresh comic vision from a new Australian playwright, and this production does it justice.

Jenny Wu is also to be commended for her versatility in playing multiple roles that are distinctive – I loved watching her play Lu Lu Jayadi (Natalie’s arch-nemesis) to a poor homeless woman to Natalie’s mother.

Jenny Wu chameleons as the naive, rather likeable Lu Lu, all the more convincingly when she embodies the too-fleeting character of Natalie’s mother.

Wu does sensitive, warm work here… This is a sharp script by a compelling new Australian voice, and is given the merry, thoughtful production of its dreams by Cáceres and cast.

Jenny Wu, as Lu Lu and also Natalie’s mum, is sweetly subversive in both roles, as her characters deal with Natalie’s excesses.

…the true strength of this production is in its actors.

An outrageously funny new play about sex, literature and spiralling out of control…

While one could quite simply enjoy Going Down for the joyous blend of its wit and slapstick, don’t be mistaken – there is depth behind the pom-pom earrings and yarn-bombed bollards.

Director Leticia Cáceres has put together an inventive show, charming in its quirkiness. Her ability to infuse each moment of Going Down with layers of meaning, keeps us engaged, with both our instinctual and intellectual capacities.

Secret City

Chimerica