Join our campaign to bring this new, hilarious, and deeply moving play to the next level!

Support X#*! YOU VERY MUCH, MOM as it moves onto a developmental run in Fall/Winter 2025 in New York City.

WHAT IS IT?

“X#*! YOU VERY MUCH, MOM” is Theatre meets TED Talk meets dark family secrets. Đavid Lee Huỳnh shares how the effects of French colonialism shaped Vietnam, rippled out, and made it so X#*!ing hard for his mom to say “I love you.” This solo show is told with whimsy, heart, and sardonic humor.

After a year of development and a series of sold out reading presentations, we are taking the next step and producing a workshop run of the show in an attempt to understand the play in three dimensions. The team will interrogate the elements of the script that have yet to be fully explored - sound, lighting, projections, and set design.

We also believe this story touches on many themes that resonate strongly today - the effects of colonization, the impact of intergenerational trauma, feelings of isolation and loneliness, the nature of grace and forgiveness, and the search for love and belonging. Audiences will experience firsthand a universal human story through the sharing of something wholly unique and specific as Đavid's personal history as a first-generation Vietnamese-American and his relationship with his mother.

To support this play is also to support the work of an emerging Asian-American playwright and help bring a story that helps to recontextualize the Vietnamese-American narrative by someone of that community. Help support a piece of Theatre that celebrates the kaleidoscope that is the American experience and the American Theatre.

WHY $10,000?

Producing Theatre in Manhattan is expensive. It is a core value of the team that all artists involved with this production are paid equitably and fairly.

$1,000 supports an artist fee, allowing us to collaborate with a talented designer or stage manager
$500 supports the materials budget for the construction of our set
$250 supports 25 hours in a subsidized rehearsal space
$100 supports transportation fees like transporting the set from where it's constructed to the theater
$50 supports administrative costs like printing scripts, print marketing materials, and more

There is also an angel donor who has pledged matching funds up to $10,000: Every donation has double the impact and brings us one step closer to breathing life into this brand-new, original play.

WHERE? WHEN? HOW?

This show will be presented in a double feature alongside Full Contact, another solo show written and performed by Leviathan Lab artistic director Ariel Estrada and directed by Gaven Trinidad.

Venue: TheatreLab, 357 W 36th St. 3rd floor, New York, NY 10018

Dates: 12 performances, November 22–December 7, 2025

The funds raised from this campaign will cover all costs required for two weeks of rehearsal, three days of tech, and a two-week run. Expenses include:

Stipends for all artists and designers
Rehearsal space rental
Set, costumes, props
Marketing
Co-Producing fees

Your support empowers a Vietnamese-American playwright to share an authentic, deeply personal story that speaks to people across cultures and experiences. All donors will be mentioned in a special thanks section of the program. Join us in bringing this vital play to the stage and honoring the kaleidoscope of the American experience. Thank you for your generosity!

THE TEAM

Đavid Lee Huỳnh - Writer & Performer

Đavid is a Ragin’ Cajun Asian who went from working on his family’s shrimp boat to making Theatre all over the world. Onstage, he’s trod the boards in one of the rare American productions of a Shakespeare play to transfer to the United Kingdom (The Merchant of Venice, Royal Lyceum Theatre) and has worked with Theatre for a New Audience, Classic Stage Company, Ma-Yi Theatre Company, NAATCO, Yale Repertory, the Alley Theatre, and many others. On-camera, his work includes an eclectic range of credits from crime drama (FBI, Blue Bloods) to science fiction (Solitary) to high fantasy (Encounter Party). His work as a writer has been supported by Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America, HB Studios, Second Generation Productions, Ma-Yi Theater, Ozark Living Newspaper Theatre Co., and others. He is a professor in the Randolph College MFA Theatre Arts program as well as a co-founder and artistic producing leader of The Sống Collective. MFA: University of Houston | www.davidleehuynh.com | @huynhsome | "không phải tôi. chúng ta"

Nana Dakin - Director

Nana Dakin (นานา เดกิ้น) is a queer Thai American director of new work, classics and devised performance based in NYC. Having grown up in multiple countries, her outlook is informed by diverse social and political experiences. Her work pursues social equity by examining the way culture is constructed and unsettling dormant biases.

She is the first Thai theatre director to direct at the Royal Court Theatre in London and was the Associate Director for 4-time Tony-nominated play "Mary Jane"on Broadway, including Best Direction.

In NYC her work has been presented and developed at Ars Nova, Atlantic Theater Company, Bedlam, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Civilians, Clubbed Thumb, Ma-Yi Theater Company, The Mercury Store, New York Theatre Workshop, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, The Playwrights Realm, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Soho Repertory Theater and more.

Nana has taught directing, devising and creative movement workshops in Thailand, the U.K and the U.S. Currently, she teaches for Randolph College's MFA in Theatre program.

She is a core member of B-Floor Theatre, Thailand’s most highly awarded theatre company, and of Superhero Clubhouse, an interdisciplinary collective creating theater for climate justice. She is a proud member of SDC and the Board President of the Thai Theatre Foundation (TTF).
See more at https://www.nanadakin.com

Pradanya Subramanyan - Producer

Pradanya Subramanyan is an Indian American artist and advocate dedicated to cultivating equitable and sustainable spaces in the entertainment industry. Specializing in producing, intimacy choreography, and management, she uplifts marginalized voices through storytelling that ensures access to meaningful, representative work for both artists and audiences. Rooted in transparency, care, and collective agency, she prioritizes process over product, believing that intentional collaboration creates the most impactful work. She is a Producing Associate at New York Stage and Film and a Producer at Leviathan Lab. | pradanyasubramanyan.com

X#*! YOU VERY MUCH, MOM

A Workshop of a New Play by Đavid Lee Huỳnh