Have you seen Children of Eden?

In the beginning (of the bible) there is a book called Genesis.

Some people think it's litterel truth, this is called Young Earth Creationism. This philosophy says that the world is only thousands of years old and created in seven days exactly as the book of Genesis.

Some people believe, however, that it's an allegory. It's a story to convey a bigger point. That it isn't historical but delves deeper into what it means to be human. In this sense it isn't too far from Plato's writings about Socrates' dialogues. Stephen Schwartz is apparently one of those people.

Children of Eden is the story of the first book of Moses, commonly referred to as Genesis. It musically portrays the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, their exile, and the story of thier family in the wasteland. It then jumps to Noah near the completeion of the Arc and ends in The Family seeing land.

It isn't a word for word recount of the biblical story, but a reinvigouration of a story that helps us look back and examine ourselves. It depicts, oddly enough, God as the main antagonist. God wants to keep his children safe and happy. However safe and happy means no choice. It subtly asks what the definition of Good is if there is no bad? The garden, to Schwartz, is a world where Lao Tzu wouldn't have made any sense. But a post apple Adam and Eve are exiled to a wasteland but able to recognize the beauty of what little they have. Cain, the first son of humankind, grapples with a question that haunts us even today: Should I live for myself or for God. Adam is steadfast that his family needs redemption from God. Abel believes he should follow his father, and Cain beleives that a God that doesn't tell you what to do shouldn't be obeyed and decides to strive for truth and fight anything in his way.

As Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel fight with the basic and universal questions about thier relationship with God, the second act dealing with Noah and his family deal with issues of a life without God. God has condemend the world, and a group of people (the decandants of Cain) who have done nothing wrong, and all the animals who can't find a mate (namely the unicorn). Noah wants to be a good son and follow his father as Abel and Adam before him. He also is confronted by his own responsibility as a father. That as God is responsible for him, Noah is responsible for his sons. Noah realizes that the hardest part of loving is letting go. This is a universal theme not realized by ANY of the characters especially the all knowing Father (God) until his frail and mortal son decides to live for himself and his own. This is a universality of the Musical that makes it as important if not more important to a non-religiocentric audience. If you're looking for a feel good sunday school pagent, look elsewhere. But if you're looking for an emotional, universal story of family, from the beginning of families, this is your cup of tea.