Princeton Chinese Theater

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From the Directors

Directors: Xiaoyang Long (left),
Yupeng Liu (right)

Traditional Chinese theater had its own form, the operas, which combined story telling with music and acrobatic displays. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century before Chinese plays took on a more modern style. Thunderstorm, or Lei Yu, is one of the most notable examples of those earlier works. It is perhaps the most well-known play in Chinese, adapted and produced numerous times and found its way into Chinese textbooks. Over the years, the play has seen many different interpretations. While the traditional focus has been placed more on the tension between the social classes, highlighting the contrast between the hypocritical entrepreneur (Zhou Puyuan) and those who suffered as a result of his merciless conducts, more and more people have started to

probe into other aspects of the play, such as the overwhelming role of “fate”, the idea of karma, or the complicated love between the characters.

As college students, we have yet to form a coherent opinion about fate or karma, and dare not impose our limited understandings onto such a play. Yet precisely because we are college students, we have a powerful intuitive energy that I hoped to channel into our acting and interpretations. In our eyes, this is not a story merely about love or hate. It is about a primitive desire to be free—free of a suffocating house, free of memories and free of dreams turned to rust.

Throughout the play, you will get to know eight main characters in two households, each with a distinct personality and a different life. Zhou Puyuan is a stern master haunted by the past. Fanyi is a fiery woman who is desperate to escape a suffocating imprison -ment. Zhou Ping is a weak son who could not bear his own cross. Zhou Chong is an idealistic young man in his late teens who lived in a world of his own. Lu Gui is a cunning servant, Sifeng a wholesome girl still living a life of hope, Lu Dahai a brusque worker, and Shiping a woman that carries all the weight buried deep under her quiet appearance.

Cao Yu once wrote an introduction to his play, in which he implores the audience to bestow compassion upon his characters. “Watch their struggles from your high seats,” he writes, “and please, have sadness in your hearts.”

In the hope of toning down the air of excitement to make space for more thinking, Yupeng and I added back the prologue and epilogue (also written by Cao Yu but usually not performed) to the original play, which take place ten years after that thunderstorm, in which the Zhou house has been donated to become a church hospital.

This is a dialogue-heavy play, and most of the intricate art is in the words the characters speak, so it might be somewhat difficult for those who aren’t proficient in Chinese to understand. If this were the case, please refer to the program notes, which contain detailed accounts of every act.

Thank you, and enjoy.

Xiaoyang Long ’12

Yupeng Liu '12