Flying Litchi Like Margaret | Theater | Margaret
After watching director Li Jianjun's "Master and Margaret" at the Young Theater, I left the theater and sent a message to Litchi: I saw Margaret.
Eight years ago, after graduating from university, four girls decided to go on a graduation trip to Russia. Before going, Litchi made a list of books, one of which was Bulgakov's "The Master and Margaret".
After reading Bulgakov's fantasy realism novel, Margaret became the most charming woman in the history of world literature in my mind, surpassing Anna Karenina, Jane Eyre, Mrs. Dalloway, Tess, Lin Daiyu, and Yunniang.
The novel "The Master and Margaret" with over 300000 words is divided into two volumes, and Margaret, as the female protagonist, occupies a very limited space. In Chapter 13 of the first volume, the figure of the master hurriedly appears, while Margaret only appears in the mouth of her lover. To officially meet her, we have to wait until Chapter 19 of Volume 2. I guess many people give up before they even finish reading it.
Although she arrived late, as soon as Margaret appeared, the entire Moscow retreated behind her.
Throughout the winter, she stood by the fireplace, feeling dejected by the master's departure, murmuring to herself towards the fire. He disappeared out of thin air, leaving their love nest - the cramped basement with only one window. And the garden buildings on Albart Street that she owned, her successful and kind husband, and a carefree life, became increasingly unbearable, filled with the smell of decay and suffering.
Margaret's only important treasure is a photo of the master and a burnt exercise book, on which are the remaining words and phrases of the master's novel. In their basement, she had read the master's novels countless times and said that her life existed within the novels.
However, in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, the content of the novel caused disaster for the master, who burned the novel manuscript and disappeared without a trace. The master is undoubtedly the embodiment of Bulgakov. In reality, Bulgakov once burned the manuscript of "The Master and Margaret", a great work that was not fully published until 33 years after his death.
Margaret is the embodiment of Bulgakov's ideals. Compared to the cowardice of the master, Margaret is exceptionally brave, reminiscent of the line from Faust: "The Eternal Woman, guides us up." One of the most brilliant paragraphs in "The Master and Margaret" is that Margaret, in order to save the master, dares to trade with Satan, transforms into a witch, and flies over Moscow. She is like a goddess of revenge, allowing those who have harmed the master to receive retribution one by one. For this, she is willing to destroy all the hatred. Finally, she went to Satan's dance party and became Walland's girlfriend.
I have imagined many times what Satan's ball would look like if it were presented in a movie or on stage. In the book, the deceased appear from the fireplace, and the decaying corpses are resurrected one by one, becoming the most glamorous guests at the ball. Margaret exchanged glasses with her guests and greeted the king, marquis, self destructor, drug dealer, pimp, prison guard, gambler, executioner, and madman with a smile, completing her mission. In exchange, she received Satan's help and successfully rescued the master.
Eight years ago, on that trip to Moscow, Margaret seemed to be with us.
We walked across the bridge, past the red, white, and blue colored lights, past the boy playing the trumpet and the kissing couple, and past the old woman holding a red carnation in her hand. We walked through Albat Street at night, Albat Street in Pushkin, and Albat Street in Bulgakov. Brave and beautiful Margaret flew out of the window, flying over the night sky of Moscow with her maid, and over the brightly lit Arbat Street.
We shuttle between the real Russia and the Russia constructed by literature. In Moscow, we found Chekhov's tombstone at the New St. Mary's Cemetery. At that time, it was May and the weather was still very cold, but the grass was covered with yellow dandelions. We put a small dandelion in front of Chekhov's tomb. We went to Sparrow Mountain in Pasternak's writings, wanting to "separate this dense forest! Crazy through this day.". One night, we traveled by train from a rainy night in Moscow to the morning in St. Petersburg, imagining Anna Karenina's experience on that train.
On the banks of the Neva River, Pushkin's poetry echoes in our minds, and at the literary caf é, we drink a lot of red cabbage soup. If it rains, we will hide in the art museum and watch Chagall's paintings all day long. The lovers in the paintings always fly over the city. The woman in Chagall's painting is clearly Margaret.
At the Tretyakov Gallery, we take a closer look at Chagall's painting "Over the Town" in 1918. At that time, he was 31 years old and had recently married Bella. The whole painting is in a gray blue tone, with a pair of lovers floating above the town, with roofs, churches, and streams on the ground. Before, when looking at replicas, I used to feel like a man holding a woman up and standing in front of a half wall sized artifact, only to realize that it was more like a woman holding a man and flying into the sky.
She has curly short hair, tightly closed lips, and is dressed in fashionable black. Mary Jane pushes her feet back, extends her right arm forward, and looks down at the ground with her eyes. And the man lay on her back, looking behind her. The same goes for "Walking" painted during the same period. The man stands, the woman flies in the sky, her hand holding him.
Ten years after Shagall painted these paintings, Bulgakov began writing "The Master and Margaret". I don't know if Margaret's image was inspired by Chagall's paintings.
The woman in Chagall's painting is based on his wife Bella. As a Jewish woman, Charles was exiled during World War II. At the lowest point of her life, Bella accompanied her. He once said, "If there could only be one color on the palette of life, that color would be love.".
And the prototype of Margaret is Ilena Sylovskaya, the second wife of Bulgakov. The writing of "The Master and Margaret" ran through the last twelve years of Bulgakov's life, and Elena always accompanied him. During this period, none of his works were published, and Elena remained his most loyal reader.
Even though she was imprisoned, that beautiful woman, with a romantic attitude and incredible courage, took our place and flew into the sky, giving us infinite imagination.
Compared to the original work "The Master and Margaret", in the plays directed by Li Jianjun, Margaret does not have the same crying, hesitation, and sadness as in the original work. She loves it persistently and hates it resolutely.
In the book, when Margaret applied Azazel's ointment, she returned from the age of 30 to the age of 20. The yellow spots on the face and crow's feet at the corners of the eyes have all disappeared, becoming bright eyes, white teeth, dark hair, and radiant. She felt relieved, gained complete happiness and freedom, and mastered the secret of flying.
In the play directed by Li Jianjun, Margaret completed "blackening" in the sound and light of the stage. Today, compared to the "white lotus" like female protagonist, we prefer the wicked and witch, and the vengeful goddess who always seeks revenge. Margaret doesn't need to turn 20 again. She was wearing a black dress, with smoky makeup and an explosive head, and a wild smile on her face. She stood high on the moving dressing table and danced.
She is a crow, a shadow, a unique rock star, showcasing her vitality and destructive power on stage.
And Li Jianjun is also extremely destructive. He turned the stage of the Young Theater into Moscow, where Satan descended. At times, it rained heavily, almost flooding the theater. At other times, it was dumped with various types of garbage, including piles of old clothes, limp dolls, and cabbage, all thrown onto the stage. If I were a Young staff member, I would definitely go crazy. The live band's rock music performance made the eardrums and hearts tremble. There is also a scene of explosions on the big screen, watching the table full of delicious food being blown to pieces. I feel a bit hungry, but I feel a sense of release.
When the world we are in turns into ruins, where should we go?
In Bulgakov's original work, Margaret rescued the master and together they flew towards the ideal country, towards the "eternal refuge.". The version directed by Li Jianjun has a very good ending. Margaret and the master held a wedding in a mental hospital, with Satan as their witness. When Satan asked them where they were going, Margaret firmly said that they wanted to go back to the basement on Albart Street.
I really like this ending. There is no ideal country to fly to together, only to return to that basement, face reality, and face hardship.
When we four girls took "The Master and Margaret" on a graduation trip to Moscow, we were in our twenties, innocent and happy. We want to love, fly into the sky, and be curious about the infinite distance and countless people. We are all fascinated by Margaret because she is our ideal self.
Now that we are in our thirties, everyone is busy, having experienced heartbreak, failure, and disappointment. Occasional gatherings and conversations often irreversibly turn into topics such as wrinkle resistance, childbirth, parental illnesses, and work pressure. We have all changed, but we still often think of Margaret. She gave us some reasons to look up at the night sky, gave us some courage to love, bear, and take action.
