Student Matinee

Snow in Midsummer

An Asian woman with hair in her face looks at the camera in front of a cracked concrete background. There is a white flag with red and magenta splatters and a green leaf behind her.
Eponine Lee as Fei-Fei in Snow in Midsummer (Shaw Festival, 2024) © David Cooper
snow-in-midsummer-lindsay-wu.-photo-by-dahlia-katz
Lindsay Wu in Snow in Midsummer. © Dahlia Katz
cast-of-snow-in-midsummer-3.-photo-dahlia-katz
The cast of Snow in Midsummer © Dahlia Katz
snow-in-midsummer.-donna-soares-eponine-lee.-photo-dahlia-kat
Donna Soares and Eponine Lee in Snow in Midsummer © Dahlia Katz
Eponine Lee as Fei-Fei, Donna Soares as Tianyun, with Lindsay Wu and the cast of Snow in Midsummer (Shaw Festival, 2024) © David Cooper
Theatre Drama
  • In-person event

  • English
  • Ages 14+
  • ≈ 2 hours  with intermission
Performance options Start time Language Availability
Wednesday, November 6, 2024 11:00 am English sold out
Tuesday, November 5, 2024 11:00 am English sold out

““This TENSE, EMOTIONAL and at times EERIE production shows how well a good ghost story can grip an audience.””

- John Law, Niagara Falls Review

NAC English Theatre presents the Shaw Festival Theatre production

Dou Yi, a young widow wrongfully executed for murder, has cast a chilling curse on her town: if she is innocent, a summer snowfall and a devastating drought will befall the townspeople. Three years later, a wealthy businesswoman arrives in the parched and locust-plagued town to revive its failing factory. When her daughter encounters a haunting apparition, the townspeople are compelled to confront their buried, harrowing past. 

Blending elements of ghost story, murder mystery, and family drama, this adaptation of a 13th-century Yuan Dynasty drama by acclaimed playwright Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig brings an ancient Chinese classic boldly into the present. Snow in Midsummer is a gripping folktale which juxtaposes redemption against revenge and delves into the depths of injustice and trauma to explore the lengths people will go to for love. 

Experience the suspense as the Azrieli Studio is transformed into the round, immersing the audience in the story's unexpected twists and turns. This contemporary thriller, which explores both corporate and personal greed, promises to be an utterly spellbinding encounter. 

Content Advisory:
This edgy and modern adaptation of a Chinese folktale is set against the backdrop of a fictitious and fantastical post-apocalyptic world, where ghosts and guardians of the underworld relentlessly haunt in their search for justice. Like the original (and often rather dark) versions of many other classic folktales from around the world, Snow in Midsummer contains some mature content, poetic representations of violence and death (both described and depicted onstage), young protagonists who overcome perilous situations, and ultimately, the promise of redemption and hope for a better world.

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Learning and engagement at Canada’s National Arts Centre is made possible through the support of many generous individuals and organizations from across the country. Arts Alive is generously supported by the Azrieli Foundation, the Government of Nunavut, Canadian North, Calm Air, The River Philip Foundation, The Turnbull Family Community Building Foundation, and The Thomas Sill Foundation. Thank you also to Grant and Alice Burton, Canada Life, A Donor-Advised Fund at the Community Foundation of Ottawa, Friends of the NAC Orchestra, Donors to the NAC Foundation's Future Fund, The Janice and Earle O’Born Fund for Artistic Excellence, and the donors and sponsors of the NAC’s National Youth and Education Trust, the primary resource for youth and education funding at the National Arts Centre.