| JASMINE (Act Two of PU-ERH) | |
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(She pulls a floral scarf from the box and holds it out.) FATHER: What're you doing with that? MOTHER: I'm gonna wear it at our wedding. FATHER: You're crazy! MOTHER: It's beautiful. FATHER: That's why you're crazy! MOTHER: Oh, no one will tell. It's our people. Our village. FATHER: The Red Guards are everywhere. MOTHER: I deserve to be pretty at my wedding. FATHER: And those flowers will make you prettier than all our People. MOTHER: That's the point. (She ties it around her neck.) FATHER: They'll say your heart is in America. MOTHER: That's ridic-- FATHER: Don't wear that scarf. MOTHER: I will not be common at my wedding! FATHER: Couldn't you choose a less public situation in which to make a protest? |
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| Five years have passed since Raymond moved away. Raymond and Mother have become estranged. She cannot forgive her son for abandoning the family, for his selfishness, for his betrayal. Raymond returns. On her journey to amends, Mother explores being young and ambitious in China during the Cultural Revolution, young and limited in Canada as an immigrant, and being a mother for the rest of her life. Raymond struggles with sacrifice and success as he learns what his responsibilities are as a son. The family is broken. Where is Father? Not here but also everywhere. | |
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Pu-Erh is the title of the full-length play. Pu-Erh is Act One. Jasmine is Act Two. Chrysanthemum is Act Three. |
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A Top Five Pick of the Festival "Jasmine by Norman Lup-Man Yeung is a continuation of Pu-Erh, a play I loved [in 2005] at SummerWorks. It's about love and what we sacrifice for it. A couple leaves the restrictions of China for Canada so they can raise their son in freedom. The son grows up and leaves home and doesn't contact his mother for four years. The play explores how the son's story and his father's are similar, and how the mother is the glue between the two. Norman Lup-Man Yeung has continued the story with the same poignancy and keen eye for what we give up and how hard we hold what's dear." -- Lynn Slotkin, CBC Radio Outstanding Ensemble "One of the great things about SummerWorks is the spirit of experimentation ... It's there in Norman Lup-Man Yeung's Jasmine, which is brave enough to mix English and Cantonese (without subtitles), and also to throw in a ghost or spirit as if it's an everyday occurrence ... I quite enjoyed Yeung's show ... The biting humour and heartfelt observations about family life remain, and the performances, delivered in English and Cantonese, feel lived-in." -- Glenn Sumi, NOW Magazine "Janet Lo gives a fantastic performance as Jasmine, able to access both the joyful optimism of a young mother preparing to move to another country with the man she loves, and the disappointed cynicism of an older, lonely woman. The show also has great sound design and sets, not to mention a lovely script by Norman Lup-Man Yeung who also plays Raymond." -- Johnnie Walker, Torontoist |
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PRODUCTION HISTORY AUGUST, 2007: Production at Factory Studio Theatre (Toronto), as part of SummerWorks Theatre Festival |
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GRANTS AND AWARDS Canada Council for the Arts Grant, 2007 Toronto Arts Council Grant, 2006 |
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| CREDITS | STILLS | PRESS |