The play is Cynthia's debut offering, and was initially conceived as part of her PhD.
What is a “good” Chinese woman? How does a woman live an authentic life in a patriarchal, capitalist and colonial society?
It is these questions and more that PhD student Cynthia Lam’s debut one-woman show seeks to answer.
愛，媽媽 (Love, Mum), is a solo memoir play about Cynthia, her mother, and two grandmothers. The show interweaves storytelling, multimedia, Chinese martial arts and song in a depiction of Cynthia’s journey as she navigates mental health, relationships, self-discovery, and finding one’s vocation against a legacy of ancestral trauma and cultural conditioning.
Cynthia began writing the play two years ago, but says the inspiration behind it was many more years in the making.
“The genesis of the writing of this play began right after I arrived in New Zealand around seven years ago, to begin my ‘second life’ or ‘second chance in life’ as I like to call it. So, parts of this story have been expressed in different forms and styles, but the play, a one-woman show, aptly embodies the spirits and lives of the women I portray.”
Prior to moving to New Zealand, Cynthia was in a well-paid career, working for a financial publication in Hong Kong. But she quit that to pursue her dream of becoming a writer, which began with her enrolling in Massey’s Graduate Diploma in Arts (English), followed by a Master of Arts in English, and now a PhD in creative writing.
The playscript was initially conceived as part of Cynthia’s PhD, but she decided to produce the play on her own.
She says the creation and research of the play has become quite the family affair. “We were fact-checking family histories and events related to my grandmothers through my aunts, uncles, and parents. My mother sings in the play, and my aunt does the calligraphy that will be part of the set design. My brother is helping out with the marketing and stage management aspects, and my father has been ordering my costumes and props from Hong Kong to send over.”
Cynthia's aunt's calligraphy will be part of the show's set design.
Cynthia hopes the show will inspire audiences to think about their lives and relationships with their own maternal figures, to remember and treasure their family histories, and inspire people to live authentically.
愛，媽媽 (Love, Mum) will be playing at the Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, as part of Auckland’s Fringe Festival on 16 and 17 September.
Tickets for both shows are available on the Ticketmaster website. The recommended audience age is 16+.
You can watch a trailer for the show here.
Reviews for 愛，媽媽 (Love, Mum)
“A heartfelt and deeply moving, impressionistic play” - Stuart Hoar, playwright.
“I cried and laughed! Telling your story in such a beautiful and brave way is inspiring” - audience member.
“Your closing lines ‘how we are the sum of all women’ just hit me hard. I actually started crying….Any woman over the age of twenty who has pondered their mother, grandmothers or maternal figures…your play would resonate with every woman regardless of cultural background” - audience member.
“Lam is a fantastic performer and playwright, her words and movement deliver feelings and stories and reassure us that our dreams are valid, possible, and ever so human” - Dr Stephanie Han, author.
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