Director: Tran Thi Hanh

Playwright: Bui Thi Hien

Institution: Hanoi Academy of Theatre and Cinema, Vietnam

Venue: Thrust Stage Theatre, CAD Changping Campus

Time: 19:30, May 21, 2024

Event: The 7th Asian Theatre Schools Festival

Director’s Note

As a woman, I always understand and sympathize with women in society. Even though they have three different destinies, what they have in common is the desire for happiness and loyalty. The only difference is that each person has a different personality and way of expressing themselves. Through 3 sample excerpts of traditional ethnic Cheo art, I want to show, through the new perspectives and approach of today's young people, to domestic and international audience the images of women in Vietnamese feudal society!

At the same time, we want to convey good humanistic values about people and the core moral values of the nation! Hopefully, the audience can understand and love our traditional theatre.

Synopsis

The play WOMAN’S DESTINY LIKE A RAIN DROP talks about the fate of Vietnamese women under the feudalism with harsh rules like women have to follow four virtues (diligent work, beauty, speech and morality) and “three obediences” while men can have so many wives.

Vietnamese women in this era all had to hide behind the wall of the social regime, were not allowed to participate in any activities in society, had no right to love or desire. However, Lady Mau, the daughter of the Rich Man, was a girl in her full moon age; she broke down the feudal regime's wall, expressed her thirst of love to the young monk in the pagoda. When the young monk refused her, her lust raised again so she made love with a servant, Mr. No. Then, Lady Mau gave birth and brought the baby to the pagoda and lied that the young monk was the father of the baby to force the young monk to adopt the baby. Lady Mau did not know that the young monk was actually a woman who was wrongly accused to murder her husband so she disguised herself as a man to become a monk, but now was once again wrongfully conceived to have a child with Lady Mau. The pain of injustice just kept accumulating in her life and cannot be solved until she died. There was also a woman named Suy Van who refused to live a dark life, so she decided to pretend to be crazy to escape from her mother-in-law's grip.

The play WOMAN’S DESTINY LIKE A RAIN DROP is about the sad fates of women who are like raindrops, some fall into the well, some on the fields. From old time, beautiful women always had sad fates.