Moving, funny, real, important

This new play from Shakina Nayfack is so wonderfully uplifting. I started listening expecting to learn more of her experience, but was surprised at how funny it was, and how much I related to every character in it. This beautifully written window into the world of gender confirmation lays bare how much we ALL desperately want the world to see us the way we see ourselves.

6 people found this helpful

Changing The Narrative

Quick--think of a piece of fiction with more than one transgender actor and/or character. You probably can't, because a transgender person is usually a single character in a piece. Having a community of transgender performers tell such a moving story of the community that forms around the process of transformation is perfection. And hopefully changes the narrative to tell more stories like these.

The performances are amazing with a real sense of character behind each one. The audio engineering was also flawless, giving a real sense of space.

Cannot recommend this enough.

6 people found this helpful

Absolutely Adore this Play

Visceral and deep, this has the power to change lives through listening. Well worth it!

5 people found this helpful

Just Extraordinary

A beautifully written and acted tale of a group of Trans women and their loved ones in an aftercare facility in Thailand. The characters are wonderful and fully human. The themes explored are universal. Audible has made what was originally a stage play into a wonderful audio drama. Lots of humor and pathos, Playwright Shakina Nayfack and director Laura Savia do a brilliant job.

5 people found this helpful

Transcendent

This story, in this form, is an immersion in vulnerability, empathy, and personal struggle. Its characters are raw and beautiful and flawed and strong. Shakina Nayfack is a powerhouse, and the cast. slays.

4 people found this helpful

Fun, smart, critical and occasionally transcendent

I listened to this play in a long walk. As a trans woman it spoke honestly to a lot of my personal experiences. I cried a lot, laughed a lot, and wished I’d had a group like this when I had surgery. It’s a fun, smart, critical, and occasionally transcendent rendering of what is a cosmically profound moment in many trans women’s lives. Highly recommended! It’s a well produced and fast moving play with multiple actors playing multiple characters interacting in complex scenes with sound and foley effects that pull you into this world and go beyond what I would usually expect from an audiobook.

2 people found this helpful

I haven’t heard anything like this

To start, I’ve never seen or heard a play like this. I stumbled upon this play without knowing what it was about, and I was captivated by the experience of listening to transwomen mingle and gossip while recovering from gender-confirmation surgery. I felt a little condescended to at times, but overall I felt like I learned a lot.

2 people found this helpful

Stellar

This theatre experience strikes deep into the heart, and helped me to see into a world I haven’t known. Very meaningful.

2 people found this helpful

Historic and moving

When I first heard that Shakina Nayfack’s new play CHONBURI INTERNATIONAL HOTEL & BUTTERFLY CLUB would be produced as an Audible play instead of a fully staged production at WTF, I was sad. But how thrilling it was to listen to this piece on Audible and still feel so connected to the characters and the story. It’s so rare that we have stories about trans people written and performed by trans artists, and this play feels somewhat historic in that sense. And even without seeing a fully realized set, I totally felt like I was right there inside a hotel lobby at the top of the play, thanks to the many talents that went into this Audible version.

2 people found this helpful

Yay!

Was so happy to find a story celebrating trans joy and realness. So refreshing to listen to and would love to see more stories like this <3 have already listened to it twice.