In 1976 China was in a state of political uncertainty.  Three political giants died in that year:  Prime Minister Zhou Enlai in January, General Zhu De in July and finally Chairman Mao Zedong in September. Zhou Enlai’s death led to public tributes in Tiananmen Square. In July, more than 250,000 lives were lost in a devastated earthquake in the northern city of Tangshan in Hebei Province. In October, The “Gang of Four,” a political faction headed by Chairman Mao’s wife Jiang Qing, attempted to take power and faced political opposition. The rifts and the turbulence culminated with Jiang Qing’s arrest.  This presaged the end of the Great Cultural Revolution.

Shanghai 1976 is a moving story that tells the tale of a  forbidden love and of the loss of innocence in Shanghai, China, in the turbulent year 1976.  Four young people come of age and fall in love against the backdrop of political and historical events. Their heritage reflects Shanghai’s cosmopolitan history. Two Eurasian girls, sisters, meet and fall in love with two Chinese men. As their lives become more entangled, they find themselves ostracized. While the Great Cultural Revolution unravels around them, these four begin to dream new dreams, to reach for freedom and to nurture hope for a brighter future.

As early as the 1920’s, Shanghai was a melting pot of different nationalities.  Even in the 1970’s, one occasionally could catch sight of a few blue-eyed, blonde-haired Shanghainese.  Between October 1976, when the “Gang of Four” was dissolved and the early 80’s, these Chinese of European descent — Eurasians —gradually left the city. However, prior to that, they were often ostracized in Chinese society, even in cosmopolitan Shanghai.  As Chinese society underwent reform they had an opportunity to uncover their roots outside China. Nonetheless, memories of those shiny gray, hazel, brown, green, and blue eyes linger in the minds of those who stayed on in Shanghai.

Purpose of the Production | Cast