Directing the adventure-opera Monkey: Journey to the West has been an epic experience for Chen Shi-Zheng. He’s had to deal with switched cast members and a different conductor for the US version of the show; a smaller space and a different configuration to squeeze the extravaganza into the Sottile; and a lot of hype to live up to.
“It’s been a journey making this production,” Mr. Chen told me just before he left town last week. “From a childhood fascination with the legend to all this.” Appreciating that a show like this becomes bigger than one person’s enthusiasm for a story, he has collaborated closely with his young cast to pass on some of his passion for Monkey to the actors, acrobats and martial artists.
“I forced them to read Wu Cheng-en’s novel Journey to the West,” he grinned. Used to visual stimuli in general and Chinese cartoons in particular, the performers were reluctant to plough through a 500-year-old book. But it was part of their job description, and their appreciation for the tale grew as a result. “It’s a fantasy journey that’s an allegory for Buddhism,” said Chen. “The idea of multiple universes and realities is Buddhist. It will find its place in the world, because the character is one of a kind.”
In the meantime, Chen has developed his boyhood interest in Monkey into a Chinese opera of epic proportions. Finding his original plans for a trilogy a hard sell, he compressed the story into a tight two hour version, struggling to decide which anecdotes to adapt. The result is a tight retelling of a legend that has its roots in the Tang Dynasty, over 1,000 years ago – a lot tighter than his 18 hour long opera The Peony Pavillion, presented at Spoleto 2004.
To create an energetic narrative, Chen needed a limber cast. Mindful of a US theater rule keeping mid-teen performers from working too many hours, the director planned ahead.
“I was casting and holding workshops for two years,” he explained. “You can’t change the vocal style in Chinese opera. We had to find people with that talent, along with kung fu fighters who could act, sing, and looked like (visual/costume designer) Jaimie Hewlett’s characters. They were 16 when they were cast, so by the time we got here they would be 18.”
Despite the strict American stage police, Chen had to find young performers. “By the time they’re 20 or 21, they can’t do contortion.” The director also admitted that folding yourself in half isn’t very good for your body. These guys are damaging themselves for your entertainment pleasure, people! If it’s any consolation, Chen has something serious to say about society. “Monkey is so extraordinarily physical and we live in such a complacent computer-driven culture.” It seems that we don’t use our bodies and appreciate our abilities like we used to, and we’re losing our sense of wonder too.
“I want to open a window to another reality,” said Chen, “not see our reality reflected,” as is the theatrical norm. “I hope that it generates interest so that people find the book, including children. They’re intuitive; they’re not preprogrammed, with preconceived notions of what musical theater should be.”
- Nick Smith
Tags: blur, damon albarn, gorillaz, jamie hewlett, Monkey, Spoleto
Entries (RSS)