帝女應如 Anastasia Tathagata

《帝女花》寫帝女在命運與意志間掙扎：是被時代吞沒，還是選擇自盡？那份決絕究竟是狂妄或愚忠、誓盟或黃粱？

早期泥印本保留的〈樹盟〉一場，重現唐滌生原構想，當中的一句詩「到死如花也並頭」，原字應為「到死應如花並頭」。究竟何謂應如？又為何「應如」？

新製作把全劇曲詞拆解，再以當代音樂重組為大型組曲，用聲音帶領觀眾在二元對立之間，為「帝女花」寫下屬於今日的註腳。

Princess Chang Ping stands torn between destiny and resolve: will she be consumed by the march of history, or choose death on her own terms? Is her final act reckless passion or blind fidelity—an unbreakable vow, or a fleeting dream?

The earliest “mud-print” edition preserves the scene “Vow beneath the Camphor Tree,” restoring Tong Tik-sang’s original vision. In it, the line usually rendered as “To die, like blossoms joined head-to-head” should properly read “To die, as blossoms ought to bloom in pairs.” What, then, is implied by this ought—and why must it be so?

This new production deconstructs the entire libretto, recomposing it as a large-scale contemporary suite. Through sound, it guides the audience across the opera’s binary tensions, offering a distinctly modern footnote to The Flower Princess.