The Femme Playlist & I Cannot Lie to the Stars That Made Me

by Catherine Hernandez

In these two emotionally unrestrained plays, the author of Singkil and Scarborough vividly paints a portrait of what it means to be a radical queer brown mother.

Genres: Plays, LGBT, Queer

80 pages, ebook

First published May 22, 2018

About the author

Catherine Hernandez (she/her) is an award-winning author and screenwriter. She is a proud queer woman who is of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese and Indian descent and married into the Navajo Nation. Her first novel, Scarborough, won the Jim Wong-Chu Award for the unpublished manuscript; was a finalist for the Toronto Book Awards, the Evergreen Forest of Reading Award, the Edmund White Award, and the Trillium Book Award; and was longlisted for Canada Reads. She has written the critically acclaimed plays Singkil, The Femme Playlist and Eating with Lola and the children’s books M Is for Mustache: A Pride ABC Book and I Promise. She recently wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Scarborough, which is currently in post-production by Compy Films with support from Telefilm Canada and Reel Asian Film Festival. She is the creator of Audible Original’s audio sketch comedy series Imminent Disaster. Her second novel, Crosshairs, published simultaneously in Canada and the US and the UK this spring, made the CBC's Best Canadian Fiction, NOW Magazine's 10 Best Books, Indigo Best Book, Audible Best Audiobooks and NBC 20 Best LGBTQ Books list of 2020. Her third children's book, Where Do Your Feelings Live? which is a guide for kids living through these scary times, has been commissioned by HarperCollins Canada and will be published in winter 2022.

Reviews

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could see this being a powerful show.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

plays that loose much on the page - there is so much about movement and sound (not just words) that is a part of these plays. These plays carry important stories - queer, femme, poc, motherhood stories. Would love to see them performed

[Mikayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*

[Jennie Chantal]

DNF
This didn’t translate well for me to read. I’m sure it would be great to watch! I’m also new to reading plays and perhaps they aren’t for me.

[Keisha Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tbh no idea what I just read.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two magical plays about Hernandez's experiences as a queer person of color. The Femme Playlist is a short solo piece. I Cannot Lie to the Stars That Made Me is a ritualistic piece for four women.