3. Rickshaw Boy
《骆驼祥子》
Playwright: Mei Qian
Premiered in 1957
The drama Rickshaw Boy is adapted from the eponymous novel of Lao She (1899-1966), a Chinese literary giant. It tells the sad story of Xiangzi, a rickshaw boy in Beijing in the 1920s who dreams of running his own firm. However, after a series of misfortunes, Xiangzi becomes utterly disheartened and sleepwalks through his days, no longer an honest and optimistic young country boy.