Sunrise
Playwright: Cao Yu
Premiered in 1956
Another outstanding work by Cao Yu, Sunrise is set in Tianjin in the 1930s. It centers on the tragedy of heroine Chen Bailu, a courtesan who commits suicide at the end of the play after the bankruptcy of her provider, and discloses the social conflicts and miserable life of those living at the bottom of society at that time. The drama also expresses the longing for brightness indicated by the name and order of its four acts -- dawn, dusk, midnight and sunrise.
