Once in the Black Box

http://youtu.be/y-gdLnB-Tuw

How would the musical adaptation of My Love, My Love differ from the novel? Would I feel bored since I am so familiar with the plots that I can recite every single detail in the book? What would actors do to show all the complicated experience of Desiree? Would the ending be as sad as that in the novel? With all those questions in mind, I, as a “professional” performer and director, stepped into the Black Box. With the colorful  lights on, I saw a different background I had used to see everyday; the magic and alive forest led me to a world full of music and love. 

A singer is not a singer but a story teller; every piece of music is designed to be a novel. The songs in the play really impressed me and even shocked me especially those harmonious tutti. The lyrics and melodies matched perfectly: one contained all logical and useful information while the other emphasized on abundant emotions. They were not able to be separated from each other just like fries and ketchup. My favorite song, however, was a solo by Daniel: Some Girls. This song compared two girls with similar form of lyrics, showing Daniel’s hesitation between them. At the same time, the two performers showed exactly their characteristics: Desiree was a innocent girl and Andrea was a Nobel lady. I started to understand why Daniel could not make a choice between them at first and nearly cried heartbreakingly when he sang the last sentence: “Some girl you marry and some girl you love.” Only music could give us this kind of strong feelings and empathy. 

The theme “Love” has passed through the entire play. Love between gods and human; love between parents and child; love between Desiree and Daniel. The four gods really cared about Desiree. They saved her life in a tree, helped her to achieve her goal and believe her can prove the existence of love. Even Papa Ge, who should be absolutely cruel, could not refuse her pleading and felt sad when she died. Mama and Tonton must be the kindest people in the world. They adopted the poor orphan, raised her up to be healthy and happy, respected her dream rather than constricting her. Love was expressed from their eyes, their languages and their bodies. As for Daniel, he must really loved Desiree at that presence. Their happiness, promises and wished were all true because of love. He was just too weak to make his own decision. For him, love was beat by authorities. However, Desiree's love has surpassed everything. Love was faith for her that she could use her life as expense, which really moved me a lot. 

I was totally attracted by the play until the last second, and the ending in fact surprised me the most. Unlike the novel, where Desiree passes away and becomes a butterfly, she instead transformed to a tree to protect Daniel's family. This was the sublimation of love, selfless and lenient. A Chinese poem which I believe has expressed the spirit of this play best confessed :“If I cannot stay with you till death, I’d wish you to live longer.”Hope that everyone in the world can be loved by others.