Social Death Archive
20-min Version
2026/07, Forecast Festival, Berlin, Germany
Developed and performed by Siming Lu
Mentored by Vidura Bandara Rajapaksa as part of Forecast’s Playing with Risk mentorship.
Social Death Archive is an experimental theatre work combining comedy, storytelling, and lecture-performance. Set in a fictional underground archive dedicated to helping people survive embarrassment and “social death,” the work follows its founder, N, as she introduces the archive’s peculiar rules, strategies, facilities, and former participants.
Young People Social Death Archive 年轻人社死档案室
Full Production Version
2024/02/15-17, Theatre off Jackson, Seattle, US
Written by Siming Lu. Directed by Christie Zhao. Produced by Team Yun Theatre
More Info
Press:
Seattle Times, “Seattle’s Yun Theatre takes on intersection of Chinese and American stories”
Staged Reading Version
2023/11/04, Sea World Culture Arts Center, Shekou Theatre Festival, Shenzhen, China
海上世界文化艺术中心，蛇口戏剧节，中国深圳
Directed by Near Feng. Produced by Team Hongkong Academy of Performing Arts
导演：冯嘉辉，香港演艺学院团队
Student Social Death Archive 学生社死档案室
2022, 4/18-19, New Works Lab, Ohio State University, USWritten and directed by Siming Lu
The complaints about college life and the misconceptions about adulting. The term "Social Death/社死 (shè sǐ)" is often used on Chinese social media to describe the extreme awkwardness when someone behaves in an embarrassing manner. "SSDA" is a one-act comedy that explores those awkward moments in college life and the transition to adulthood. It includes things you did wrong during college: the first coffee chat with alumni, attending language classes without preparation, loudly cheering for a sports team until realizing you got the school wrong, struggling to manage your facial expression upon getting know someone else's GPA, and leaving college unprepared.
关于大学生活的吐槽和成人生活的迷思。“社死” 经常被用在中国社交媒体上来描述出丑时的极度尴尬。SSDA是一个单幕喜剧，探讨了大学生活里的那些尴尬瞬间和成年过渡期。它包括了那些你在大学期间没做对的事情：第一个和校友的coffee chat，没有预习就去上的语言课，看球赛时大声欢呼直到发现认错自己学校的球队，得知别人的GPA后没有做好表情管理，没有准备好就要离开大学。
