EDINBURGH 2023: Review: HELLO KITTY MUST DIE, Pleasance Courtyard

Hello Kitty Must Die is a new musical from Alchemation based on the best-selling novel by Angela S Choi. It is a show written by an Asian American woman, about Asian American women and to be performed by Asian American women.

Fiona Yu is a first-generation Asian American and her parents have expectations for her to maintain family honour and marry a respectable Chinese man. This show goes hard early on as it tackles her rebellious mission to break her hymen with a dildo- complete with a song and dance routine. 

Fiona is a 29-year-old lawyer and when she discovers that there is no blood on her dildo, she seeks a plastic surgeon for reconstruction. The doctor she meets turns out to be Sean, an old school friend who was sent to juvenile detention due to some worrying behaviour in his teens. Now an allegedly reformed character, he reconnects with Fiona but people that they encounter keep turning up dead and Fiona starts to get suspicious. 

The opening numbers and messages of Hello Kitty Must Die are strong. It examines the Western stereotypes about Asian women- cute, quiet, submissive and it's all down to that cartoon cat. 

Hello Kitty Must Die has an extremely strong cast with killer vocals and a dark and twisty plot. With over 3,000 shows at the festival, it is difficult to say with much confidence that any one show is truly unique but I can’t imagine there’s anything else quite like Hello Kitty Must Die.

Hello Kitty Must Die runs until August 27.

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