In the late 1920s in Indochina, love blossomed between a pubescent girl from a French family of limited means and an older, wealthy Chinese-Vietnamese man. The contrasting racial and financial realities meant that the odds were stacked against the couple, and the love story lived a short life. But first love, they say, is unforgettable, and imbued with shades of colonial realities, it made a deep impact on French novelist, playwright and filmmaker Marguerite Duras.

Though she returned to France at the age of 17, the affair continued to surface in her works. Her fictionalised autobiographical work, L'amant, or The Lover, however, is based on the romance and recounts it in greater detail. An eponymous play based on the work — which has been translated into 43 languages, adapted to a film, and awarded the 1984 Prix Goncourt — will be staged in the city this Thursday.