Nina Ki Embodies Queer Women as Loveable Furries

by Kheven Lee LaGron

Gumiho, a creature in traditional Korean folktales, appears as a nine-tailed, shapeshifter fox who can disguise itself as a beautiful woman. The gumiho deceives and seduces men to better eat their hearts and livers. The creature appears in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese folktales under different names.

In Queerean-American (Queer + Korean) playwright Nina Ki’s “Gumiho,” the creature appears in Los Angeles’s community of Asian queer women, non-binary, and transmasculine folks.

Director Crystal Liu creates a whimsical folkloric fantasy. Her direction is strong and full of surprises, creating a fun and playful show. A giant corseted rabbit welcomes me at the door. I enter the room where Colin Johnson and Colin H. Johnson use a light and video show to turn the one-room theater into an adult playland.

As I wait for the play to begin, a seductive rabbit does an exotic dance on the platform bed. The giant corseted fox playfully peeks inside the room and flirts with the waiting audience. Then, she sashays past the rabbit while a sensual rap song about sex with Asian women plays. Will the fox be the predator and the rabbit be her prey?

Crystal Liu and Christina Linskey designed the fox and rabbit costumes, which look like cute stuffed animals for children. The cute fox and rabbit appear as characters throughout the play. Yet, they are also seductive—for adult play. Apparently, “cute” is an element in Crystal’s vision, making the play even more fun.

The furries  pulls me into the show before it even begins.

In the play, 29-year-old Kam Grey (Raye Goh), a washed-up reality TV star, seduces members of her queer women, non-binary, and transmasc community. They have all talked about Kam in the past, but Kam seduces them to connect with her anyways. When Kam leaves, she stirs up a mess. The fox appears. Kam is the gumiho. Goh makes the perfect Kam: their cute and innocent look is seductive, and it belies the turmoil that Kam will stir up.

Like the gumiho, Crystal’s seductively playful direction highlights her reason for choosing to do the play. She writes in an email:

Full-length plays that center the lives and emotions of younger Asian American/Pacific Islander queer women and transmasculine people are rarely produced. I have many, many thoughts and feelings about the current state of Asian American theater and how often it centers, and has centered, on cis men. But that might go on for a while and ultimately this isn’t about what the play “isn’t.” “Gumiho” is a well-written, genre-bending play about a flawed, redeemable character in whom I truly see myself, wholly, for the first time.

Thankfully, Crystal didn’t pass on this opportunity.

 

“Gumiho” by Nina Ki, directed by Crystal Liu, set designed by Aaron Simunovich, costumes by Lynell Aldafari, “Fox” and “Rabbit” design by Christina Linskey & Crystal Liu, lighting by Colin Johnson, video & projection design by Colin H. Johnson, and sound by Olivia Vazquez, at Theatre Rhinoceros, San Francisco.

Info: therhino.org – to May 11, 2025.

Cast:  Raye Goh, Zolboo Namkhaidorj, Dom Refuerezo, and Annie Wang.

Banner photo: Kitty Moon (Rabbit) & Kitty Me-Ow! (Fox). Photos: Aaron Simunovich