How did this project start? Is it for Mother’s Day?
I participated in the Play Reading Project last year where the theme had to do with women. Since I’d read Amy Tan’s novel before, I picked a scene to present at the event. The feedback was really good and I felt that the novel had some resonance, which inspired me to do a stage play. Actually, Mother’s Day doesn’t have much to do with it, but since the story is about mother-daughter relationships, I chose to launch the play at this time.

What sorts of things inspire your plays normally?
At New Theatre Society, we love to read a lot of foreign literature, and that’s how we pick the next play. We select an existing plot because it’s guaranteed to be good, and then we have some fun creating a Thai adaptation—not just translating it into Thai but adding elements that reflect our culture.

How did this script evolve from the original novel? Was it difficult, as the book was written in the 80s?
Things have changed a lot since the 80s, but the relationship between mothers and daughters is a classic issue that’s timeless. So that’s the question I dealt with in adapting this play and adding modern elements to set it in present day. The cast is also different; I created new characters necessary to the plot and cut others.

So what do you think are the factors impacting mother-daughter relationships?
There are a lot of factors, actually. Technology is one thing. As our world moves faster, people have less and less patience. We focus only on the final solution without being aware of the things along the way. Sensitivity is something we’ve forgotten about. This affects not only the relationship between mothers and daughters, but other relationships as well.

What do you hope the audience will take away from the production?
Of course, even after the play, mother-daughter problems will continue. That’s classic and inevitable. But I hope, at the very least, the audience will want to compromise and of listen to each other better.