The work officially opens at A.R.T.'s Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dec. 3.
Inspired by a thirteenth century Yuan drama, the work is described in a release as "a wild tragicomedy based on a thirteenth-century Chinese tale about a young girl who returns to earth as a ghost to take revenge on the society that permitted her murder." Shi-Zheng’s adaptation fuses Beijing music theatre with contemporary Americana.
The cast includes Beijing Opera veteran actress Qian Yi as the vengeful girl who was forced into an arranged marriage by her mother. Snow in June also stars Thomas Derrah as the Son, David Patrick Kelly (Twelfth Night, Uncle Vanya) as the Widow and Rob Campbell (Translations, Ivanov) as the Father
The musicians in the production include Evan Harlan, Andrew Blickenderfer, Ima Jonsdottir, and Adam Larrabee (of the Boston-based band Andromeda) as well as percussionist Gary Fieldman.
The design team includes Yi Li Ming (set), Anita Yavich (costume), Rick Fisher (lighting) and David Remedios (sound). Playwright Mee's has penned Full Circle, The Trojan Women a Love Story and Orestes which were all staged at the A.R.T. Institute. Other plays include True Love, bobrauschenbergamerica, Wintertime and A Perfect Wedding.
A.R.T.'s 2003-04 season continues with Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Martha Clarke (Jan. 10-Feb. 28, 2004), Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party, directed by JoAnne Akalaitis (March 6-27, 2004), Sophocles' Oedipus, directed by Robert Woodruff (May 15-June 13, 2004) and Molière's The Miser, directed by Dominique Serrand (June 22-July 11, 2004).
Tickets to performances of Snow in June at the Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square, 64 Brattle Street in Cambridge, MA, can be purchased by calling (617) 547-8300 or online at www.amrep.org.