CTW’s Toy Theatre Peony Pavilion, (winner of a UNIMA/USA Citation of Excellence in Puppetry) was created by Kuang-Yu Fong and Stephen Kaplin, combines excerpts of the authentic 16th Century Chinese Kun Opera’s song, dance, text, music and costume with alternating narrative sections performed in English with the western, toy theatre style of puppetry. The production has English dialogue and Chinese songs.
Kun Opera is at the root of all traditional Chinese opera forms. It is known as “the king of operas” or “the ancestor of operas.” Recently, Kun Opera was selected by the United Nations as a “human oral cultural treasure.” Peony Pavilion represents one of the great epic masterpieces of this genre. It was written by Tang Xian Zu, a contemporary of Shakespeare during the Ming Dynasty. The original opera performed in its entirety spans 55 acts and takes 22 hours to perform. Toy theater was a popular genre of European puppetry performance in the nineteenth and early twentieth century that used a small model proscenium stages and flat, cut-out figures manipulated by rods or sticks. Nowadays, there is a revival among artists, designers, and puppeteers in Europe, the U.S., and elsewhere, in part because of the toy theatre’s ability to create complex and fantastic theatrical effects through simple, economic means.
In Toy Theatre Peony Pavilion a young maiden, Du Liniang, falls asleep by the Peony Pavilion. While dreaming she is introduced to her future husband by flower fairies. After waking, she pines away for him and dies of a broken heart. Her soul is caught by Judge of Hell who allows her to return to Earth as a ghost and waits for her beloved to rescue her.
Our small version of Toy Theatre Peony Pavilion was co-written and co-directed by Kuang-Yu Fong and Stephen Kaplin. The puppets, masks and miniature stage are designed by Stephen Kaplin, with figures based on paintings by Zhang Da Xia. Three performers play all the roles: Yuhang Wen, who plays the young male role, is a leading star at the North Kun Opera Troup from Beijing, China. He starred in the international tour of Lincoln Center’s production of The Peony Pavilion; Kuang Yu Fong, who plays Lady Du Liniang majored in Chinese Opera at Chinese Culture University from Taiwan. She has worked with many American avant-garde theater groups including Bread and Puppet Theater. Also performing is Stephen Kaplin, a puppet master based in New York City who, has worked with Julie Taymor, Lee Breuer, Michael Curry, and Great Small Works, among others. The musical director is Baogang Liu, a music instructor from the Chinese Opera Academy in Beijing.
Toy Theatre Peony Pavilion is performed in English with Chinese arias. It is suitable for smaller venues of up to 250 seats.