Apple Tree, The review

Apple Tree, The Review - Broadway musical

Stuart Ostrow invented not to put a musical in a long story, but in a few short stories, each of them should complement the general line of the plot. On the other hand, after watching the musical, there is a feeling that it is just three stories that are linked only by the fact that they are philosophic. After all, there is no common line between them that is clearly visible – the actors are different all the times and stories are different too. Even morality from every part of the play is also different, own. It is visible, that there were attempts to unite these, but the audience had the opportunity to convey right only moral, but not to link all the parts together. Is it bad? Not at all. Each part was pretty intense and not longer than necessary. And if they were not united under one "roof", they might not get a short and distinct performances that would be simply interesting.

What's good in that we have seen three different productions? First, the savings on the ticket – for one price you get not one, but three stories, each of which is colorful and juicy by itself.

In the first one, there is a free retelling of the biblical story of Adam and Eve’s acquaintance, their exile, the birth of two sons, killing of one son by another and the death of Eve – a love story that does not leave indifferent. Told with feeling, properly and wisely, where all religious is removed and only universal is left. This option really made this play universal.

The second part leaves us suffering from a big mystery and everyone decides for himself, what is the end of this part. Especially the physicists will like it that are familiar with the concept of the mind experiment of Schrödinger's cat. That explains the two concepts at once: physical – about the state of duality of elementary particles in quantum physics and philosophical – about the fact that the observer affects the observed. This is when there is a box in which the cat is. In the box, at an arbitrary time deadly gas goes in to so the cat dies. But we may know whether the cat is alive or already dead, only after opening the box. And in a meanwhile, until it is closed, the cat is potentially in both states at the same time – alive and dead. So, the experimenter determines the condition of the cat with the fact of the observation – is it certainly alive or certainly dead. And in the absence of the fact of observation, we contribute that cat both alive and dead simultaneously, without being able to determine the state with reliability. This is what happens in quantum physics – elementary particles simultaneously have two states, conditionally, "0" and "1", when we do not observe. So in this part of the play, this is what is behind a door, chosen by hero at the direction of his beloved? Tiger, who would kill him, or a slave girl, whom he has to marry, cheating his beloved?

The third part is the smallest – it reveals quite reworked story of Cinderella, which becomes a pumpkin at midnight. Details are different; the essence remains. Moral – being yourself – always the best solution. Because hiding behind the mask of another person, you may not think that all those who are around us – even closest ones – may also wear masks of other people, and we may not like ones hidden under them. Though here we have happy ending, but the 50/50 probability is always a lottery.
Last Update:April, 06th 2016