backstage pt.4

Yingtai, completely heartbroken, prepares for her wedding day. Suddenly, Sijiu, Shangbo's manservant, arrives at her door only to tell her that Shangbo has coughed himself to death. Yingtai faints and awakes to sing of how cruelly they have been parted and blames her father and Ma Wenchai for her misfortune. She tells Sijiu to wait by Shangbo's grave. He leaves.

Then her father enters. Yingtai demands to visit Shangbo's grave as a condition to marrying Ma. She also demands that the wedding sedan be decorated with funeral offerings. He reluctantly agrees. The marriage with the Ma family, to him, is far more important.

This is me, as Ma Wenchai. In every production of Butterfly Lovers, Ma never appears and is only mentioned. The role was created for me and I'm a ghost character who narrates the story of these foolish lovers. My character is only revealed much later as a twist to the formula.

- to be continued