Beauty’s Curse

Everything You Need to Know About Chinese Femme Fatale: Beauty’s Curse
From Script Murder to Feminist Reckoning: China’s Four Great Beauties Rewrite Herstory

Welcome to the Herstory Revolution

Step into a Shanghai script murder parlor where four modern women dismantle 2,000 years of patriarchal blame. Femme Fatale: Beauty’s Curse (《红颜祸水》)—a 70-minute genre-smashing fusion of immersive theater, KPOP-infused musical drama, and feminist critique—has ignited China’s cultural scene. Born from playwright Betty Bong’s viral SIX-inspired vision, this subversive spectacle reimagines China’s Four Great Beauties as defiant pop icons, transforming "historical scapegoats" into architects of their destinies. Think SIX meets Everything Everywhere All At Once, with a Shanghainese millennial twist.

What Is Femme Fatale: Beauty’s Curse About?

The Premise:
Four estranged friends reunite for a script murder game, only to be thrust into the roles of China’s most weaponized women:

 ​Yuan Mengqi ("Hedonist"): A free-spirited art student mirroring modern financial entrapments

 ​Du Na ("Manipulator"): A retired athlete battling workplace sexism through Zhou Dynasty intrigue

 ​Wang Xinyi ("Ice Queen"): A corporate wife confronting "trophy spouse" expectations

 ​Xu Xiaotong ("Traitor"): A clinical researcher rationalizing forbidden office romance

As the game unfolds, their modern struggles—career sabotage, queer identity erasure, age-gap judgment—collide with the beauties’ ancient plights through razor-sharp KPOP numbers and script murder mechanics.

Script Murder

What is Script Murder (剧本杀)?
Script Murder is a dynamic, narrative-driven social experience that blends immersive theater, collaborative storytelling, and role-playing. Unlike traditional murder mystery games that focus on solving crimes or identifying culprits, modern Script Murder prioritizes emotional engagement, character development, and collective storytelling. Players assume richly crafted roles within a predefined narrative universe, working together to unfold a story through dialogue, hidden clues, and interpersonal choices.

The game’s appeal lies in its ability to transport our four girls into the ancient world—where they explore themes like love, betrayal, sacrifice, and redemption. Emphasizing moral dilemmas, character relationships, and cathartic journeys over logic puzzles. This accessibility, paired with forced marriages, political exploitation, and the “femme fatale” stigma. Each choice—sacrificing love for duty? Fleeing oppression at personal cost?—mirrors modern struggles with workplace sexism, queer identity, and societal judgment.

The Legends of China’s Four Great Beauties

The Four Great Beauties—Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diao Chan, and Yang Yuhuan—are iconic figures in Chinese history and folklore, celebrated for their extraordinary beauty and tragic influence on pivotal historical moments:

Xi Shi (西施): A village laundress turned spy, she was trained by the Yue Kingdom to seduce the king of rival Wu, hastening its collapse. Her story intertwines love, betrayal, and patriotism, blurring the line between heroism and manipulation.

Wang Zhaojun (王昭君): Sent as a political bride to pacify nomadic Xiongnu tribes, her “marriage of peace” became a symbol of sacrifice and cultural exchange, though her defiance of imperial power and the early death of her husband shrouded her life in controversy.

Diao Chan (貂蝉): A cunning court dancer in the Three Kingdoms era, she orchestrated a love triangle between warlords to dismantle tyrannical rule, inadvertently causing the downfall of heroes and sparking endless debates about her loyalty.

Yang Yuhuan (杨玉环): The beloved concubine of Tang Emperor Xuanzong, her lavish lifestyle and romanticized downfall during the An Lushan Rebellion epitomized the tension between personal desire and political duty, blamed for toppling a golden age.

So, will you:

As Yang Yuhuan, drink the poisoned chalice to “preserve imperial dignity”—or smash it in defiance of dynastic misogyny?

As Xi Shi, do you drown yourself for “national harmony” or sabotage the war machine that commodified your body?

As Diao Chan, seduce warlords to collapse tyranny—or expose how history rewrote your rebellion as “harlotry”?

As Wang Zhaojun, play the obedient “peace bride”—or teach nomadic women to carve poetry into arrows and ignite rebellion?

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world.