In this tale of friendship, love, and authenticity, four friends reunite at a hot pot restaurant after the pandemic, reminiscing about their past while navigating the realities of their diverging life paths.

It is a tender examination of friendship and the small betrayals of adulthood. The play traces the heartache of lost love, the friction between dreams and pragmatism, and the work it takes to remain authentic when the world insists otherwise. Warm, inquisitive and rooted in East Asian perspectives, Hot Pot serves up a single night of conversation that explores gay identity with honesty and nuance, questioning what it means to belong to a place, society, partner, and one’s true self amidst a queer-unfriendly environment.

Hot Pot was first produced by Auka Productions and toured to Playhouse East (London), Nottingham Lakeside Arts, Stage@Leeds, Bristol Loco Klub, Derby Theatre and Langton Green Festival in Summer 2026. The Production was supported by the University of Nottingham and UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council.