Digital Library of Chinese Theatre 中国戏剧资料库

The performance is an adaptation of a modern spoken drama play with the same title Thunderstorm by Cao Yu. The plot involves family hierarchies, adultery, incest, threatened murder and labour unrest. The relationships between masters and servants, as well as between stepmother and stepson, not only reveal love and hatred but also embed an exploration of fate within a plot that exposes the oppressive realities of contemporary society. The themes reflect the spirit of iconoclasm in the 1920s and 1930s which advocated the liberation of the individual from the patriarchal family and the emancipation of workers from capitalist exploitation. The drama’s tragic ending, inspired in part by Greek tragedy, is also a meditation upon fate.

The clip presents a “dialogue” in singing form between the mother Lu Shiping and her daughter Sifeng. When Shiping was young, she was a maid in a rich family. She was in love with the young master but she was driven out (even after giving a birth to a male heir of the family and being pregnant once more), and separated from her two-year-old son, because the young master had to marry a young woman from a family of equal social status. After having learnt that Sifeng is now a servant too, Shiping becomes anxious that her daughter may follow her tragic path. In the clip, she is pressing her daughter for the truth and demands her to swear to the thunder that she will never lie to her mother.

沪剧《雷雨》是根据曹禺的同名话剧剧本改编而来。剧情讲述了一个复杂的故事，其内容涉及家庭、等级、通奸、乱伦、威胁、谋杀和劳工骚乱等。雇主与雇工的关系、继母与继子的关系不仅仅揭示了爱与恨，而且揭露了当时社会的现实压迫，蕴含着关于命运的探索。作品反映了上个世纪二、三十年代破除旧习，主张个人从父权制家庭解放、工人从资本主义剥削中解放的精神。全剧的悲剧性结尾，在某种程度上是受希腊悲剧的影响，但同时亦是对命运的沉思。

选段是母女之间用唱段来表达的一场对话。母亲鲁侍萍年轻时候是一有钱人家里的使女，她与少爷私通并生下一子，就在她已经怀孕第二胎时，少爷必须明媒正娶一个门当户对人家的姑娘，于是侍萍被主人家赶出门外。当侍萍听说女儿四凤在一个大户人家帮工，她非常担心女儿会步自己的后尘。在这个选段里，我们可以看见侍萍逼迫女儿说出实情，并要她在雷声中发誓她没有欺骗妈妈。