Thunderstorm - Tsao Yu

My wife bought me this famous play to introduce me to more Chinese literature, telling me it was a standard school text and widely performed. It has been described as the Shakespeare of Chinese theatre, specifically Hamlet, due to its emotionally charged themes of social rebellion and incest. The comparison is undeserved in my opinion, and even Tsao Yu in his forward is pretty disparaging towards his own work. With a dramatic ending featuring multiple deaths, it felt more like a Greek tragedy, but the influences of Chekhov and Ibsen are also present. (There are no less than three instances of Chekhov's gun appearing as foreshadowing.) The play is spread over four acts, set in both the household of a wealthy coal mining tycoon and his family, and the house of their staff, who are tightly connected with those they serve. The play is supposed to represent the collapse of the old social order as the energetic and rebellious youths try to assert themselves against it. But there is a sickness at the heart of the family. Revelations flow thick and fast in the final act as the storm outside reaches its crescendo in classic Sturm und Drang fashion. The closest Western comparison I can think of is Vinterberg's film Festen, in which another bourgeois family implodes beneath a barrage of shocking disclosures.

In my opinion, and I'm fully aware that this might be a translation issue, the play is crude and unpolished. It amused me to see the editors of my book describe the translation as merely 'adequate' - something we would never see in a western publication, where even bad translators like Emily Wilson are overly lauded. Tsao Yu has written an excessively self-deprecating preface complaining that the publishers forced him to write it. 'Is Thunderstorm worth reading? I imagine one of the jobs of a preface-writer is to pin-point the highlights in an effort to induce the reader to keep on turning the pages, but I can't for the life of me put my finger on a single point that satisfies me.' He also writes, 'I was told, "Your own assessment of your works is not half so penetrating as other people's."' A reminder that once a creative work is launched, the public and academia will become the main judges in deciding what it's about. I would also draw attention to this choice bit of 'men writing women' stage direction describing Ssu-Feng's appearance: 'When she walks, the movement of her over-developed breasts is plainly visible under her clothes ... Her mouth is large, with full lips that are naturally and deliciously red.' Make of that what you will! Despite my mockery, I did enjoy the play, just don't expect Shakespeare!

Rating: 3/5