Beijing Opera's 'The Adventures of the Monkey King' comes to CU

"The Adventures of the Monkey King: A Beijing Opera" draws on the fables of the Monkey King, the greatest of all Chinese myth cycles. The action-packed performance, part of a limited U.S. tour, comes to the Schwartz Center Oct. 1-2. Courtesy of the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance

Cornell's Department of Theatre, Film and Dance, in cooperation with Cornell's East Asia Program, is part of a rare and limited U.S. tour of "The Adventures of the Monkey King: A Beijing Opera." There will be two public performances at Cornell, on Oct. 1 and 2.

The action-packed performance by the International Monkey King troupe shows off Beijing Opera as one of the most dynamic forms of theater in the world. It blends singing and dialogue with acrobatic tumbling, kung-fu fighting, brilliant costumes that sparkle with silk brocades and faces painted with bright, stylized masks. Beijing Opera has been called "an artistic ocean" -- the only art form that encapsulates Chinese culture, history, literature, music, dance, acrobatics, stage fighting and acting with the specialty arts of face painting and elaborate costumery.

The Monkey King troupe is a 17-person company based in Beijing that draws on the talented students, graduates and senior masters of the National Academy of Beijing Opera. The troupe's leader is Ghaffar Pourazar, a British performer who was the first foreigner to complete the arduous training at the National Academy.

"The Adventures of the Monkey King: A Beijing Opera" includes three high-energy plays that draw on the fables of the Monkey King, the greatest of all Chinese myth cycles. These three tales follow the Monkey King Sunwukong, a magically powerful but extremely mischievous "superhero" or "warrior clown," as he accompanies the Buddhist monk Xuanzang on his journey to India to seek the Buddhist scriptures. The stories were collected in the 16th-century novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en. The adventures in this performance are "The Dragon King's Palace," "The Iron Fan Princess" and "Havoc in Heaven." Those three episodes were chosen for their excitement and action, and because the stories are easy to follow for an audience unfamiliar with these legends, though the legends are as familiar to most Chinese as "The Wizard of Oz" is to most Americans.

For additional information on Beijing Opera and the Monkey King tour, visit http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu/eastasia/outreach/opera/index.asp.

Cornell's two-day production of "The Adventures of the Monkey King: A Beijing Opera" runs Friday and Saturday, Oct. 1 and 2, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25-30.

For tickets and information, visit the box office in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, 430 College Ave., 12:30-5:30 p.m. weekdays, or call 254-ARTS.