May 35th: Creation, Memory, and Resistance (including the award-winning June 4th stage play "May 35th")

Two elderly people are waiting to die. Their son died of unnatural causes thirty years ago, but they are powerless to resist and live under the oppression of the powerful.
In the past, I only cared about survival and didn't fight. Now death is coming, what is there to be afraid of?
So they decided to go to the blood-stained square on May 35th to commemorate their son.
In an abnormal country, doing normal things is illegal.

The play evokes not so much the irreversible tragedy of that summer thirty-three years ago as the tragedy of silence, submission, and humiliation that has played out daily over the past thirty-three years; not so much the tragedy of June Fourth as the tragedy of May 35th; not so much the tragedy of resistance as the tragedy of losing the right to mourn; not so much the tragedy of the dead as the tragedy of how those who survive will spend the rest of their lives. — Hong Hong (renowned Taiwanese theater and film director)

"June 4, 1989, and May 35, bear witness to an era that will never be forgotten. Lies and taboos cannot obscure history and the truth." — Yu Shanlu (Assistant Professor, Department of Drama, National Taipei University of the Arts)

In addition to including the award-winning play "May 35th" about the June 4th Incident in 1989, this book also records the creative process of the play and related reviews. Through this play, the last public performance of the "June 4th Stage" in Hong Kong, it reflects how Hong Kong people, with their creativity and vitality, persisted in the pursuit of justice on the arduous road.

"May 35th" won five awards at the 29th Hong Kong Drama Awards: Best Screenplay, Best Production, Best Director (Tragedy/Drama), Best Lighting Design, and Outstanding Creative Writing of the Year.

"May 35th," translated by Japanese playwright Ishihara Ran, won the "Odashima Takeshi Translated Script Award."

This book includes scripts in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English, allowing the kite of democracy and freedom to fly further.

Let's meet on May 35th to commemorate the event openly. When reality is absurd, the theater allows people to return to normal.

"The courage and kindness that burst forth from the grass before it is crushed to pieces." - Hong Hong

"Their story is also our story. 'Not wanting to recall, yet not daring to forget' is the cry of our own destiny." - Luo Yongsheng

Features of this book

"May 35th - Creation. Memory. Resistance" not only includes the award-winning play "May 35th," which chronicles the writing process and related commentary on the June 4th Incident, but also documents the play's development. Through this final performance of the "June 4th Stage" in Hong Kong, it depicts how Hong Kong, after decades as a frontline commemorator of the June 4th Incident, has been suppressed and extinguished in the wake of the passage of the Hong Kong National Security Law, and how freedom of expression and creativity has been stifled.

Through comprehensive editing, this book, with the drama "May 35th" as its core, outlines the atmosphere of national resistance since 2019 and its resistance to various forms of political oppression. This book reflects the pain of 1989 and the pain of Hong Kong people today.

Purchasing this book is an act of preserving the memory of June Fourth, resisting repression and resisting forgetting.

In addition to the original Cantonese script of "May 35th", this book also contains Mandarin and English translations, allowing more people to learn about the play and making it easier for performances around the world.

． This book is comprehensive and well-produced, and includes color photos from the performances, which help readers imagine the performances.

Amnesty International Taiwan and Xiao Theatre will present May 35th in Taiwan from June 2 to 4, 2023. This production will feature five performances in Mandarin and one reading in Cantonese.

Let us fight against the oppression of power through our creations and fight for democracy and freedom!

Recommender

Yu Shanlu (Assistant Professor, Department of Drama, National Taipei University of the Arts), Wang Dan (Student Leader of the 1989 Democracy Movement), Wang Chaohua (Student Leader of the 1989 Democracy Movement), Wu Zhisen (Senior Hong Kong Media Professional), Fang Huizhen (Writer), Zeng Zhihao (Senior Hong Kong Media Professional), Hong Hong (Famous Taiwanese Theater and Film Director), Luo Yongsheng (Renowned Hong Kong Cultural Studies Scholar)
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Won five major awards at the 29th Hong Kong Drama Awards, including Best Screenplay and Best Production. The Japanese translation won the Odajima Takeshi Translated Script Award.

2023-05-24

一八四一出版

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