Sangya, an aspiring teenage girl in the early-1960s China, sympathizes with her grandmother who stumbled into her fate with a pair of bound feet. Very soon, Sangya finds herself bound in a predicament where she has to make a difficult choice between her academic dream and her father, a counter-revolutionary prisoner at a northwestern labor camp. What is the right choice to make? Or, is there really a choice?

Context: 
Shortly after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, individuals who had been associated with Kuomintang were considered as counter-revolutionaries and imprisoned. Soon the local prisons were overwhelmed, laogai (reform through labor) camps were built in the northwestern desert regions and prisoners were sent to the camps. Some made it back home after years of sentence, some stayed in the northwest for the rest of their life, and some died. Sangya’s father, Li Siming, was one of them. 

Please be advised this reading contains mention of suicide.

Virtual Lobby

In advance of the performance, we'd like to invite you to visit our Virtual Lobby to learn more about the production and our team.

Cast

Creative Team

*Undergraduate student. UI Theatre is dedicated to providing hands-on theatre experience for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Ticket Information

Iowa New Play Festival readings are free and open to the public. However, you must obtain a ticket and seating is limited.

Tickets are available during Festival Box Office hours on Monday, May 1 and Tuesday, May 2 from noon to 1:30 p.m. and at the door 30 minutes prior to the reading, on an as-available basis, unless the reading is sold out.

Link to Iowa New Play Festival homepage

Link to Iowa New Play Festival 2023 full schedule

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the Department of Theatre Arts in advance at 319-335-2700.