Photo/WeChat of KEY Literature

“Crocodile”, the latest work of Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan, is expected to be published at the end of May this year, said the WeChat account of its publisher KEY Literature, the Shanghai branch under Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House, on Wednesday. 

It is learned that“Crocodile” is a play script that tells the story of corrupt official Shan Wudan who fled to the United States and his story around the gift "crocodile" at four birthday parties from 2005 to 2015.

The story was conceived in 2009 and the first draft was completed in February 2022. Mo Yan revised it three times and the work was finalized in March this year.

In the story, Wudan was originally the mayor of a coastal city in China. In 2004, he fled to the United States due to corruption charges and lived in a villa with his young mistress Shouma and his confidant Mu Fei, who had served as his secretary.

Although Wudan was in the United States, his heart was still in China. He never forgot his past political achievements - the Qingyun Bridge built during his term. He felt confused and lost about the status quo. Over the past ten years. Over the past ten years, Wudan has been constantly changing larger fish tanks for the crocodile, indulging the crocodile to grow into a huge creature up to four meters long…

Although Mo Yan is a novelist, he has always been deeply fascinated by drama. Few people know that Mo Yan’s virgin work is not a novel but a script called “Divorce”. He once said: “In terms of drama creation, I am an apprentice. But I have ambitions to become a playwright.”

Before “Crocodile”, Mo Yan had published two collections of plays: “Our Jing Ke” and “Grandaunt with Red Silk”.