Snow in Midsummer

Men in this town were born with mouths that can right wrongs with a few words. Why are you too timid to speak?

As she is about to be executed for a murder she didn't commit, young widow Dou Yi vows that, if she is innocent, snow will fall in midsummer and a catastrophic drought will strike.

Three years later, a businesswoman visits the parched, locust-plagued town to take over an ailing factory. When her young daughter is tormented by an angry ghost, the new factory owner must expose the injustices Dou Yi suffered before the curse destroys every living thing.

A contemporary re-imagining by acclaimed playwright Frances-Ya Chu Cowhig of one of the most famous classical Chinese dramas, which breathes new life into this ancient story, haunted by centuries of retelling.

The world premiere of Snow in Midsummer on 23 February 2017 at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, launched the RSC's Chinese Translations Project, a cultural exchange bringing Chinese classics to a contemporary Western audience. This edition has been republished for the American premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in June 2018 and includes a brand new afterword by Joshua Chambers-Letson.


About the Author
Ya-Chu Cowhig, Frances: - Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig has received residencies at Yaddo, MacDowell, Ragdale, and the Santa Fe Art Institute, and is under commission from South Coast Rep and Seattle Rep. Frances received an MFA in Writing from the James A. Michener Center for Writers at UT Austin, a BA in Sociology from Brown University, and a certificate in Ensemble Created Physical Theatre from the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre. She is currently Playwright-in-Residence at the Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley, California. Her play of 2010, Lidless received the Yale Drama Series Award, an Edinburgh Fringe First Award, the Keene Prize for Literature, and the David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize.