KUAN-YU STANLEY LIN

SHALOM, SHALOM

Perhaps we all had similar fantasies that Dad was just pretending. He would get up and sneak into Mom’s bedroom, kissing her goodnight as he did in those days before he had the stroke. Just like the toys in Toy Story, following the not-to-be-noticed rule, he would live in the world behind the reality, aware of everything going on.

The bed in the centre of the stage is Dad, who had a stroke and is paralyzed. A family story takes place around it. Each member, in a constant state of drifting in and out of family strife and trauma, seeks for redemption amid the despair: the elder son, You-An, on the verge of breakdown from the stress and burden, his prodigal sister who left home long ago and has now become a street prostitute, their aged mother showing early signs of dementia and You-An’s unexpectedly pregnant wife about to do whatever it takes to keep her child. The characters strive for peace over the lapses of time from one scene to another, but the truth is that peace is a gift, not something to be earned, like the love of God. Like His grace, we have taken it for granted.

This play is dedicated to my grandfather, who had several strokes, each violently wiping out a part of him. He was confined to a wheelchair, fed by a tube, and gradually taken away from us until his death in the year of 2015.