Activist Opera Company, White Snake Projects, Presents World Premiere of MONKEY: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable

Celebrated for creating diverse, timely and relevant opera, activist opera company White Snake Projects (WSP) and its founder Cerise Lim Jacobs today announced the upcoming world premiere of MONKEY: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable on the Robert J. Orchard Stage at Boston's Emerson Paramount Center. There will be three performances from Friday, September 22, to Sunday, September 24. Set to a libretto by Jacobs with a score by composer Jorge Sosa, this family-friendly transmedia show combines unique, life-scaled Bunraku puppetry, Kung Fu, computer generated images, and live opera. Based on the epic Chinese fable “Monkey King: Journey to the West,” MONKEY is rewritten to reflect contemporary issues from the multicultural mosaic of American life. With a cast carefully chosen to reflect the diversity of the characters, the movement-based ensemble of experienced puppeteers, physical theater performers, and Kung Fu practitioners animates the story's three main characters – Monkey, Pig (Zhu), and Sandwoman (Shu) - alongside opera singers and members of Voices Boston.

The 16th-century Chinese novel, “Xi you ji,” also known as “Journey to the West,” is one of the most popular books in East Asia today, as well as a seed-text for children's stories, films, anime and comics. A native of Singapore, Jacobs grew up with the story of Monkey and has always had a fondness for the rascal. “I always wanted to write about dear Monkey, he of the “monkey mind”, the ever restless, ever-changing, ever curious quicksilver mind,” says Jacobs. “Perhaps I feel some affinity for his plight as all around try to tame him and teach him the virtue of stillness.” 

Some critics view this classic as pure entertainment about a mischievous monkey, others a satirical critique of 16th-century China, and still others as a religious allegory. According to Jacobs, “it was supposed to be a Buddhist morality tale, but it has become a great adventure quest saga instead. An ancient Wizard of Oz tale for our times!”

MONKEY marks the fourth time the “intrepid and artistically ambitious” (Opera magazine) Jacobs teams up with Mexican-born composer and sound artist Jorge Sosa. Their first collaboration was WSP's opera I Am a Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams, which the Boston Globe said “might be White Snake's least logistically complex affair to date. It's also the best.” Nimbly pivoting to meet the changed performance landscape of the COVID pandemic, Sosa and Jacobs next collaborated on the digital opera Alice in the Pandemic, subsequently acquired by the Library of Congress for its Performing Arts COVID-19 Response Collection. For MONKEY, Sosa had already developed an affinity to Chinese music, having studied with Zhou Long, Jacob's collaborator for their Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, Madame White Snake. In 2022, they joined forces again for Samiir's Feast, a holiday opera celebrating Eid al Adha. Sosa works in a wide range of styles, from electronic music to opera, with eclectic influences that include folk and traditional music from around the globe, chant and early vocal polyphony, Afro-Latin rhythms, and jazz harmonies.

A hybrid of handcraft and digital, MONKEY delves into the world of computer-generated technology through the use of CGI environs and avatars. As Director of MONKEY, Harvard alumnus Roxanna Myhrum (Beth Morrison Projects, Puppet Showplace Theater, Lyric Stage Company of Boston) is thrilled to bring the story of the Monkey King to life. “As a practicing Buddhist, Kung Fu student and devoted fan of the Monkey King fable, this White Snake Projects production is a dream come true for me.” Under the leadership of co-founder Tom Lee, the Chicago Puppet Studio (War Horse, Metropolitan Opera, Prototype Festival, New York Philharmonic, Lookingglass) created original life-sized Bunraku puppets for the opera's three main characters: Monkey, Pig (Zhu), and Sandwoman (Sha). Performing the title role of Monkey is Chinese countertenor Chuanyuan Liu praised for his "otherworldly flourish" (The Wall Street Journal), "intense stage presence" (Classical Voice North America), and "natural, sensitive feel with embedded lyrical nuance" (The Millbrook Independent).

White Snake Projects' 2023-24 programming is supported by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mass Cultural Council, the Boston Cultural Council, Reopen Creative Boston Fund, administered by the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture and the Ditson Fund.

White Snake Projects (WSP) is an activist opera company making mission-driven work that unites artmaking with civic practice. It envisions a world where the power of opera expands our collective understanding of community and transforms lives through creative storytelling. The company's most recent efforts have been devoted to the live digital productions of the Pandemic Trilogy: Alice in the Pandemic addressed the disproportionate strain of COVID-19 on communities of color and essential workers; Death by Life explored long-term incarceration and institutionalized racism; and A Survivor's Odyssey dealt with the ongoing crisis of sexual and intimate partner violence. A critical element in the exploration of these themes is the establishment of authentic connections with thought leaders in social justice to ensure that the company's creative work lives in an ecosystem of activism. WSP sees opera not just as performance, but as performance with purpose, a vibrant and vital art form that is also a champion of change. WhiteSnakeProjects.org

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