How Do I Let You Die? single work   drama   - 90 mins
Issue Details: First known date: 2023... 2023 How Do I Let You Die?
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'A somewhat autobiographical tale of Hmong parents, death and ghosts.   

'As Australia careened from deadly bushfires to the beginning of COVID-19, and as Hmong-Australian writer Michele Lee was working on Asian ghost TV shows, she rang her parents for 30 minutes each day.    

'Lee wanted to figure out how to talk to them about death: their death, the deaths they’ve endured here and in Laos, the Hmong perspective on death. In asking herself, ‘How do I let my parents die on their terms?’ Lee sought to reconcile vast emotional, cultural and geographical distances.    

'How Do I Let You Die? assembles an extraordinary team of Asian-Australian artists to weave together phone calls, Asian ghost tropes, Hmong horror stories, and the simple potency of an adult child coming to term with a parent’s eventual death.   

'As moments of acute and layered crisis bring mortality achingly close, this charming and tender work of theatre offers moments of humour and nuance, and moments of contradiction, to wonder on our approaches to this life and the next.' (Production summary) 

Production Details

  • World Premiere presented by Arts House and Michele Lee. Produced by Bureau of Works : 22-26 November 2023.

    Writer: Michele Lee
    Director and Dramaturg: Sepideh Kian 
    Set and Costume Designer: Vanghoua Anthony Vue 
    Sound Designer and Composition: Elissa Goodrich 
    Sound Design and Composition Attachment: Rafe Yang
    Filmmaker: Ari Tampubolon
    Lighting Designer: Rachel Lee 
    Performer: Alice Qin 
    Production Manager / Stage Manager: Reis Low 
    Producer: Bureau of Works 

    Supported by The Australia Council for the Arts, The Besen Family Foundation, Creative Victoria and the Sidney Myer Foundation.   

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Theatre Review : How Do I Let You Die?, Arts House Lakshmi Ganapathy , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: ArtsHub , November 2023;

— Review of How Do I Let You Die? Michele Lee , 2023 single work drama

'Michele Lee’s autobiographical tale of Hmong parents, death and ghosts raises intriguing questions, which resonate with the migrant experience.' 

Writer Michele Lee Jinghua Qian , 2023 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 4-10 November 2023;

'Hmong–Australian writer Michele Lee’s new play, which explores death, ghosts and memory, began with a regular phone call to her parents. By Jinghua Qian.'

Theatre Review : How Do I Let You Die?, Arts House Lakshmi Ganapathy , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: ArtsHub , November 2023;

— Review of How Do I Let You Die? Michele Lee , 2023 single work drama

'Michele Lee’s autobiographical tale of Hmong parents, death and ghosts raises intriguing questions, which resonate with the migrant experience.' 

Writer Michele Lee Jinghua Qian , 2023 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 4-10 November 2023;

'Hmong–Australian writer Michele Lee’s new play, which explores death, ghosts and memory, began with a regular phone call to her parents. By Jinghua Qian.'

Last amended 6 Nov 2023 13:17:04
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