"A dreamer's nightmare, are we all slaves to desire?"
"The crocodile is in the river; the river is in my heart, and I am in the belly of the crocodile." "Don't be controlled by desire. We need light!"…

As college students spoke aloud lines and shared their sentiments about novelist and playwright Mo Yan's newest drama, Crocodile, the unveiling of the play took center stage at the Beiguo Theater in Beijing Normal University on Jan 11.

The drama, produced by Magnificent Culture Co Ltd and scripted by Mo Yan, will premiere in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, on May 3, followed by a national tour until September.

Crocodile is the first original drama script penned by the Nobel laureate Mo Yan. Celebrated for his imaginative and humanistic fiction, Mo won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2012.

Mo spent over a decade meticulously crafting the story of Crocodile. Its plot revolves around the protagonist, Shan Wudan, and a crocodile he received as a gift for his birthday. Through an infinitely growing crocodile, the story digs into the complexity of human nature and explores the theme of "desire".