'MythStory' takes fresh look at 'Beauty and the Beast' tale


The fairy-tale myth of "Beauty and the Beast" may be best known to modern audiences in the animated Disney version, which swirls with colorful dancing spoons and singing feather-dusters.

But that interpretation of the fairy tale has always disappointed Palomar College drama professor Michael A Mufson. A married father of two and an avowed feminist, Mufson said he never liked the story's old-fashioned plot devices of the Beast winning Beauty's heart by rescuing her from peril, the contrived presence of a magic mirror and the Beast's ultimate transformation into a handsome prince.

So, in the summer of 1997, Mufson set about writing his own stage adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast," based on ancient storytelling traditions. While he was struggling over his script that summer, Mufson's wife, Li-Anne (a bun raku puppeteer), took their then-5-year-old son, Beckett, back East to visit her family. After many weeks of research and thought, Mufson hit upon the idea of basing his version of "Beauty and the Beast" on the ancient creation myth of nature. His inspiration was his wife's patience with their active son, and as his words began to pour onto the page one day, Mufson chose to ignore a ringing phone. Only later did he learn that it had been Li-Anne calling to tell him that she was pregnant with their second son, Jonas Orion.

Mufson's "MythStory of Beauty and the Beast" debuted at Palomar that fall, and it returns this weekend in a new production with a revised script. Mufson said the new version is tighter, better designed and uses the staging concept of magical realism. While children will still recognize the basic story from the Disney version, there's plenty more layers for adults to enjoy as well.

"The arc of the show has to do with the way Beauty discovers her own magical feminine power and she has to find that out about herself before she can transform the Beast," Mufson said. "The play is about an ancient, magical timeless world and a concrete world that come together gradually."

As in the Disney movie, Mufson's Beauty is a dreamer who rejects materialism, but she also has a strong connection with the world of dreams. And, unlike her selfish sisters, Beauty has the courage to face her family's poverty. Instead of giving Beauty a magic mirror to see the future, Mufson gives her the gift of woman's intuition and clairvoyance and an innate connection with Mother Nature.

Mufson also developed a new interpretation of the Beast's curse, based on ancient traditions and American Indian myths. In his version, the Beast was a boy taught by the Great Mother to love the beauty of the world, but the boy grows greedy and tries to drink up the rivers, hold on to the fiery sun and eventually swallows the silvery moon, extinguishing its light. As punishment, the Great Mother curses him with ugliness until he can find the light within himself -- a task he can accomplish only with Beauty's help.


