The Scarlet Sails (Russian: Алые паруса) is a 2010 musical by Maksim Dunayevsky, based on Alexander Grin's 1923 novella of the same name. Unlike the original and most of its adaptations, the musical is very dark, almost serving as a Deconstruction of the original.
Assol is a kind, affectionate little girl ostracized by the rest of the village after her father Longren allowed Menners, the man who raped her mother, to drown. One day, a wandering storyteller tells her the story that one day, a wonderful captain called Grey will take her away on a ship with scarlet sails, and ever since then Assol starts to wait for the ship.
A Time Skip of several years later, Assol is in her late teens. After a bitter quarrel with her father, she goes to the local tavern, which now belongs to Menners Jr., who is infatuated with Assol and delighted to see her there. However, Longren finds out his daughter's at the tavern owned by the family he hates, so he comes there and starts a drunken fight, which ends with his arrest. Menners Jr. offers to bail Longren out of prison if Assol agrees to marry him. In addition, the local Miss Kitty, owner of a brothel called Lighthouse, offers to lend Assol money as well, and Assol prefers to take her offer, agreeing to work for that money at the brothel. And it just so happens that on the very same evening, the brothel is visited by a melancholy young captain called Grey...
The musical provides examples of:
- Adaptational Heroism: Egl isn't evil in the book, but he has a case of Didn't Think This Through with his prophecy, since he wants to create a beautiful story without properly considering how it would affect Assol. In the musical, he makes the prophecy because he knows it will come true, and, unlike in the book where he only appears once, supports Assol until the ending.
- Adaptational Jerkass:
- Longren becomes a drunkard and snaps at Assol that she's crazy, something he would never do in the book.
- In general, the ostracism Assol faces is partly shown as Longren's own fault, since he refuses to let her socialize with other people at the tavern (the one time she does come there after a quarrel with him, everyone save for Mrs. Menners is perfectly accepting of her and happy for her to join in the singing).
- Adaptational Job Change: Longren is a toymaker in the book; here, he is a lighthouse-keeper.
- Adaptational Mundanity: Inverted. In the book, Egl only pretends to be a magician and thinks up the scarlet sails to amuse himself even more than Assol, and he barely even thinks whether she'll take his story seriously. In the musical, he does have magic powers, and therefore his prophecy is more accurate (instead of a generic unnamed handsome prince, he specifically mentions a captain named Grey).
- Adaptational Sympathy: Menners Jr. is a much more complex and conflicted character than the mostly one-dimensional bully in the book. Which, ironically, leads to his Adaptational Villainy: in the book, he can't stand Assol and is perfectly on board with her steering well clear of him and his inn. Here, he is infatuated with her and therefore pushes her into a Forced Marriage with him.
- Adapted Out: Longren's kindly neighbor, the charcoal-burner, and Grey's crew don't appear.
- Age Lift: Menners Jr. is seven years older than Assol in the book, while here, they are the same age.
- Angry Mob Song: Doubling as "The Hero Sucks" Song, "Crazy" is sung by the crowd of villagers bullying Assol.
- Ascended Extra:
- Menners Jr. only has a couple of mentions and one on-page appearance in the book but becomes a major character here.
- Mrs. Menners is The Ghost in the book and a prominent supporing character here.
- Egl is a Small Role, Big Impact in the book, appearing for a single scene, but is present here throughout the entire musical.
- Bad Girl Song: "Song of the Owner of the Lighthouse" is sung by the Lighthouse's Miss Kitty during her seduction of Grey and explains her views on arranging easy, no-strings-attached one-night stands.
- Cannot Spit It Out: During all of his Villain Love Song, Menners Jr. is unable to clearly tell Assol he loves her. Instead, he later visits Longren in prison and asks him to relay that to her.
- Canon Foreigner: The priest and the Lighthouse's owner don't appear in the book.
- Church of Saint Genericus: It's left unclear which Christian denomination the priest belongs to. He is called "Father", he is shown praying for the dead Mary, and in some productions, his clothing resembles a cassock, which seems to imply he's Catholic. However, the marriage service he starts to perform bears little similarity to the Catholic sacrament, and some productions give him clothes no different from a layman's.
- Crisis of Faith: Assol, feeling disillusioned and depressed, asks the local priest to help her, only to find out that he is suffering from doubts as well. In their duet, they try to give each other strength, and Assol begs the priest to keep his faith, since, well, if he wouldn't do that, who would?
- Darker and Edgier: Oh dear. Where to start...
- Rather than rejecting Menners Sr.'s advances and dying of pneumonia, Mary is gang-raped in his tavern and drowns herself.
- Longren turns to Drowning My Sorrows and gets jailed, which never happened in the book.
- Assol gets a Scarpia Ultimatum from Menners Jr., then very nearly turns to prostitution rather than accept it, then attempts suicide and is just barely rescued, then accepts Menners Jr.'s offer and is very nearly forced to marry him. None of the above happened to her in the book.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Mrs. Menners is enraged that her son wants to marry Assol, whom she believes to be crazy and whom she loathes for being Longren's daughter. Longren, meanwhile, would rather stay in prison than see Assol marry Menners Jr.
- Demoted to Extra: Grey's storyline is cut so much that he hardly appears outside Assol's dream sequences.
- Depending on the Writer: Menners Jr. has a wide range of portrayals depending on the production, from a sad lonely man who genuinely doesn't know how to express his feelings properly to an outright violent rapist following in daddy dearest's footsteps.
- Good Shepherd: The priest tries to help and instruct the villagers of Kaperna (problem is, they aren't always listening) and starts the marriage ceremony for Assol and Menners Jr. very slowly, allowing Grey time to save Assol before the Wedding Deadline.
- Greek Chorus: The villagers often comment on what's happening (or, in case of Mary's suicide, explain what's happening).
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: The Lighthouse's owner (Miss Kitty, but still doing the job herself as well) is very kind with Assol and offers to lend her money (only suggesting that Assol works for her for that money as an alternative option). She later tells Grey about who Assol is, though by doing that she loses him as her customer, and instantly agrees to give him all her supply of red wine to dye his sails scarlet. In her songs, she confesses that even by keeping her, well, establishment she genuinely wants to give men "some love for an hour or a night, if they haven't found the love that lasts forever".
- In the Blood: Like his father, Menners Jr. doesn't want to take no for an answer from the woman he fancies. He is better than Menners Sr., in the respect that he does have genuinely strong feelings for Assol and wants to make her happy – but only on the condition that she marries him.
- Jade-Colored Glasses: Unlike in the book where the residents of Kaperna are simply cynical in general, here it's said that many of them used to be dreamy and idealistic in their youth before reality kicked in.
- Mythology Gag:
- Menners Jr., in his Villain Love Song, offers to buy all the red silk available to make the scarlet sails for Assol. That's the way the scarlet sails were made in the book, while here, Grey simply dyes his white sails in wine.
- Menners Jr. accuses Egl of planting the whole scarlet sails idea into Assol's head. Egl admits that in a way, the young man's right: it's not enough to sow the seeds of a huge dream and then just walk away. In the book, the narration remarks that Egl did not think of that.
- Ominous Chanting: Three especially dramatic scenes are accompanied by the priest singing a prayer. For example, such is the wedding celebration of Assol and Menners Jr.:Gossipy Hens: But she's a fool, such a fool, and she'll dress all in gold! And look how downcast Longren is!The priest (chanting slowly and looking clearly uncomfortable): Bless them, o Lord, bless them, o Lord!
- Promoted to Love Interest: Assol for Menners Jr., even more so than in the 1982 film. He actively pursues and very nearly marries her (Grey's ship appears when they are already at the altar).
- Runaway Bride: Assol jumps into Grey's arms right as she is being led to the altar by Menners Jr. Since the latter forced her to agree to the marriage, it's hard to judge her.
- Shout-Out: The girls at the brothel snicker that Assol is waiting for the Flying Dutchman.
- Spared by the Adaptation: A minor case. In the book, it's implied that the wife of Menners Sr. died at some point before Grey's arrival in Kaperna. In the musical, she is very much alive.
- Time-Shifted Actor: Little Assol and grown-up Assol are played by two different actresses (as are the kid and grown-up versions of Menners Jr. and Grey in the stagings that give the latter two A Minor Kidroduction).
- Took a Level in Kindness:
- In some productions, Menners Jr., at literally his last spoken line before the final chorus, finally leaves his Entitled to Have You attitude behind and tells Assol to go to Grey.
- The entire village, previously disdainful of Assol, sings the final chorus with her and Grey.
- Villain Love Song: Menners Jr. gets one ("You Are Not Like Everyone Else"), and such a beautiful and touching song it is, too. He tells Assol that he loves her precisely because she is different from the crowd, that he is ready to marry her even if she only wants his money, and that he longs for some happiness even in a dreary and mundane place like their village. Unfortunately, before that, he also informs her that only by marrying him can she save her father from prison.
- Wedding Deadline: Highly important in the final scenes. Grey rushes to prepare the scarlet sails and rescue Assol before she is married off to Menners Jr., and when Grey's ship appears, Menners Jr. in most productions shouts at the priest to go on with the ceremony, apparently hoping to get it finalized while the ship's still far enough.
- Young Love Versus Old Hate: To make it more complicated, it's one-sided young love to boot. Longren and Mrs. Menners loathe each other, but Menners Jr. is madly in love with Assol, who pities him but doesn't love him.
