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    China Doll
    China Doll
    China Doll
    Ebook118 pages1 hour

    China Doll

    By Marjorie Chan

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama

    Finalist for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play

    At the beginning of the 20th century in China, copies of Ibsen's A Doll's House began circulating secretly amongst women in tea-houses. In China Doll, Marjorie Chan's first play, Ibsen is a catalyst for a young woman who comes to see her future in terms other than those laid out for her by the patriarchal society in which she lives. Su-Ling, an open-minded and intelligent young woman in Shanghai, has her feet bound by her grandmother, Poa-Poa. Despite the pain and the crippling effects, custom decrees that the smaller and daintier the foot, the more marriageable the woman. (The most desirable, "lotus feet," fit into lotus shoes only 3-4 inches long). Poa-Poa has high hopes that her granddaughter will marry well and bring prosperity to them both. Then Su-Ling meets the merchant Li, who enlarges her world by teaching her to read. As Su-Ling grows into womanhood, she makes choices that lead her toward independence, and which have consequences for everyone in her world.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScirocco Drama
    Release dateJul 16, 2024
    ISBN9781990737022
    China Doll
    Author

    Marjorie Chan

    Born in Toronto to settlers from Hong Kong, Marjorie Chan is the Artistic Director of Theatre Passe Muraille. As an award-winning interdisciplinary artist, she primarily identifies as a writer with specific interest in contemporary opera and collective forms, while also maintaining an active practice as a dramaturge and director. Marjorie's plays include China Doll, The Madness of the Square, a nanking winter, Tails From the City, and Lady Sunrise. Her award-winning libretti for operas include Sanctuary Song, The Lesson of Da Ji, M'dea Undone, and The Monkiest King.

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      Book preview

      China Doll - Marjorie Chan

      Cover: China Doll by Marjorie Chan.

      C

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      Marjorie Chan

      China Doll

      first published 2004 by

      Scirocco Drama

      An imprint of J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing Inc.

      © 2004 Marjorie Chan

      Reprinted 2009, 2019

      Scirocco Drama Series Editor: Glenda MacFarlane

      Cover design by Doowah Design Inc.

      Author photo by Pierre Gautreau

      Production and cover photos by John Lauener

      Printed and bound in Canada on 100% post-consumer recycled paper.

      We acknowledge the financial support of the Manitoba Arts Council, The Canada Council for the Arts and the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing program.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, for any reason, by any means, without the permission of the publisher. This play is fully protected under the copyright laws of Canada and all other countries of the Copyright Union and is subject to royalty. Changes to the text are expressly forbidden without written consent of the author. Rights to produce, film, record in whole or in part, in any medium or in any language, by any group amateur or professional, are retained by the author.

      Production inquiries should be addressed to:

      Playwrights Guild of Canada

      54 Wolseley Street, 2nd Floor

      Toronto, ON M5T 1A5

      Phone 416-703-0201, FAX 416-703-0059

      info@playwrightsguild.ca

      Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

      Chan, Marjorie

      China doll/Marjorie Chan.

      A play.

      ISBN 0-920486-83-5

      I. Title.

      PS8605.H355C45 2004 C812’.6 C2004-904917-8

      J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing

      P.O. Box 86, RPO Corydon Avenue, Winnipeg, MB Canada R3M 3S3

      Acknowledgements

      I am extremely grateful for the support of many people in the writing of this play. In particular, I would like to thank:

      Kelly Thornton, for her incredible faith and vision.

      Bill Lane, Dagmar Kaffanke-Nunn, Lynda Hill, Ruth Madoc-Jones, Erica Kopyto, Jennifer Capraru, Jordana Commisso, Reni Krátká, The Butterfly Body Collective, The K.M. Hunter Foundation, David and Ann Powell, Linda Gaboriau, and John Murrell for their support, dramaturgical and otherwise.

      And finally my family, Janet and Edwin Chan, Jennifer Chan, and Parveen Bakshi for their love.

      Development History

      China Doll was first commissioned by Bill Lane as a short radio drama for CBC Radio and the Banff Centre of the Arts. It was then commissioned as a full-length play by Kelly Thornton for Nightwood Theatre. It was subsequently developed through the 2003 Groundswell Festival and the 2003 Banff playRites Colony and supported by a Creation Grant from The Canada Council for the Arts.

      The playwright would also like to acknowledge all the performers who participated in various versions and workshops for their invaluable contribution: Denis Akiyama, Leanna Brodie, Lindsay Burns, Jo Chim, Jordana Commisso, Brian Dooley, Barbara Gates-Wilson, Carmen Grant, Laura Kim, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, David Lereaney, Keira Loughran, Jane Luk, Ruth Madoc-Jones, John Ng, Valerie Pearson, Meg Roe, Jovanni Sy, Jean Yoon.

      Note from the Playwright

      China Doll was inspired by the 2001 exhibit Every Step a Lotus at the Bata Shoe Museum. It was there that I encountered these exquisitely embroidered but painfully small ‘lotus’ shoes. I was astonished to discover the wear on the soles of the shoes could only have been caused by walking. I had always imagined that women with bound feet could not possibly walk anywhere. But they did.

      Characters

      Su-Ling

      Ma-Ma, her mother

      Poa-Poa, Ma-Ma’s mother, and Su-Ling’s grandmother

      Merchant Li

      Ming, Su-Ling’s servant

      Act I is set in Shanghai, China 1904–1918, returning occasionally to the past in a nearby village.

      Act II is set over a few weeks in the fall of 1918 at the Chen compound, Shanghai.

      On a style note, I encourage directors to interpret freely the images I provide in stage directions, including incorporating other theatrical forms such as dance or puppetry etc. In particular, scenes with footbinding and sexual content are better served stylized. I would also encourage intense research into this particular period in China’s cultural and political history. However, more important than a naturalistic portrayal of the time period, is the essence of the story, fluidity and a sense of magic.

      Notes on the Text

      Su-Ling reads from excerpts of literature of my own creation, with the exception of the excerpt from A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen in Act II, Scene 8. The text she reads is based on the William Archer (1856-1924) translation from 1906 which is in the public domain. I made my own further amendments for clarity and rhythm.

      Production History

      China Doll was commissioned and first produced by Nightwood Theatre, premiering at the Tarragon Theatre Extra Space, Toronto, February 19, 2004. The cast and crew were as follows:

      Su-Ling Marjorie Chan

      Poa-Poa Jo Chim

      Ming/Ma-Ma Keira Loughran

      Merchant Li John Ng

      Directed and Dramaturged by Kelly Thornton

      Artistic Producer: Nathalie Bonjour

      Set and Costume Designer: Joanne Dente

      Associate Designer: Camellia Koo

      Lighting Designers: Rebecca Picherack and Michelle Ramsay

      Sound Designer: Richard Lee

      Stage Manager: Kathryn Westoll

      Assistant Stage Manager: Sarah Dalgleish

      Production Managers: Rebecca Picherack and Michelle Ramsay

      Assistant Director/Dramaturge: Erica Kopyto

      Fight Director: Richard Lee

      Movement Coach: Kelly McEvenue

      Head of

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