The Birth of Monkey King is Chinese Theatre Works´ adaptation of the Chinese classic Journey to the West, presented through shadow puppetry. The production features dozens of figures based on antique Chinese shadow puppets from CTW´s Pauline Benton Collection, projected into a large, vibrantly colored image with a unique dual-overhead-projector system. Two live performers give voices to the show's forty characters, from the Jade Emperor to the Judge of Hell to Monkey King himself. The show was written and directed by Kuang-Yu Fong and Stephen Kaplin, and is performed in English by CTW´s expert puppeteers and storytellers.
The story of Monkey King comes from the 17th-century literary masterpiece attributed to Wu Cheng En. Journey to the West has been a perennial popular favorite in the Chinese dramatic canon for centuries, appearing in every available medium, from opera to comics and television. Its shadow puppet incarnation is a classic of the thousand-year-old art form. The tale has enthralled generations of children and adults down to the present day with its mixture of folk legend, action/adventure, Buddhist and Taoist religious allegory, thinly veiled political satire, and spicy picaresque humor. The star of this rollicking epic is Sun Wu Kung (a.k.a. "Handsome Monkey King," a.k.a. "Great Sage Equal to Heaven"), a combination of Buddhist sage, cosmic prankster, shape-shifting magician and unbeatable martial artist. Picture Jackie Chan, Gandalf, Superman and Bugs Bunny rolled into one.
The part of the tale which we have adapted follows the exploits of this fantastic simian troublemaker as he gathers superpowers and shakes the foundations of Heaven, causing such a cosmic ruckus that Buddha eventually intervenes to take him down.
The Birth of Monkey King was presented alongside the Manhattan Children´s Museum´s 2004 (Year of the Monkey) exhibition on Monkey King, and accompanied the show on tour to the Children´s Museum of Richmond as well. The production has also been featured at the Queens Museum of Art, Brooklyn Children´s Museum, Henry Street Settlement´s Abrons Arts Center, and elsewhere.
The puppets used in The Birth of Monkey King are adapted from antique shadow figures collected in the 1920s and 1930s by Pauline Benton. CTW has given these figures new life by restoring them, and then using them as models for the acetate puppets we use to perform our overhead projector shadow puppetry productions. The Birth of Monkey King uses new two-projector techniques we have developed to expand the range of this kind of shadow puppetry, from masking to quick-change effects to subtle overlays of color. The cinematic, yet down-to-earth, results are part of our work bringing together traditional and innovative approaches to the Chinese performing arts.