Who is wearing the steel toed boots..?

There is a reason that I am not keen to go see any Tennessee Williams plays.  While he is a wonderful wordsmith and his dialog is absolutely riveting, the plays are depressing as all get out.  Whenever I go to see one, it just feels like I am being kicked in the head with steel toed boots for two hours.  So while I appreciate the artistry, I am not a big fan.

Last night at Miller Outdoor, there was a production of the Vietnamese epic poem "The Tale of Kieu."  The production was simply mesmerizing.  What the producer did was to make a "Broadway musical" show out the the tale, complete with both Vietnamese and English dialog/translations.  The costumes, minimalist set design, and choreography were all very nicely done.  The visuals were quite frankly, simply beautiful.

However... remember what I said about being kicked in the head for two hours?  Here is a summation of the plot:
Beautiful girl falls in love with handsome boy.  Boy gets called away for a year and a half.  Father of girl falls into debt and girl sells herself to brothel to save family.  Forced into prostitution, beautiful girl attracts many men.  One man buys her freedom, but he is married to the daughter of Prime Minister who does not take kindly to having another woman in the house.  Girl steals two candlesticks and flees for her life to a Buddist temple.   Priest accept her until he finds out she carries stolen property... back to the brothel.

You get the idea.  She eventually ends up with her original love but refuses to have sex with him because of her past.  Oy!  My head hurts.

But man... the pictures sure were pretty.