One of the great heroes of Chinese literature comes to life at Paliku Theatre this weekend in playwright-director Nicolas Logue’s Chinese-opera-meets-American-theater production “The Monkey King: Wreaking Havoc in the Dragon’s Palace.” Born from a magic stone, and possessing powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men or monkeys, the Monkey King has a series of epic adventures that pit him at various times against men, demons and gods alike.
Logue’s play retells some of the Monkey King’s early adventures in ways that are faithful to the traditions of Chinese opera, also known as jingju, but accessible to local audiences.
“It’s based on the original play but has a lot more modern references and comedic timing. It is not a classic jingju but it is deeply rooted in the essence of what Chinese theater is,” Logue said recently. The “modern references” include a crab named Zebastian and a tortoise named Mikey that Logue said is “obviously some sort of ripoff version of Michelangelo of ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.’”
Cartoon references aside, Logue is serious about jingju. He has degrees in Chinese studies and Chinese theater, spent several years as a Fulbright Scholar in Beijing, performed for six months with a jingju troupe in China, and directed another “Monkey King” production in London while living there. As if those aren’t credentials enough, Logue is fluent in Mandarin and has read the Chinese epic in its entirety in the original Chinese.
“This adaption is very goofy, very presentational, very fun,” he said. “It borrows heavily from the conventions of Chinese theater with a lot of the make-up, a lot of the movement training (and) the live band. It is in no way, shape or form a classical jingju (play) but it is influenced heavily by all the classical jingju work I used to do in Beijing.“
“THE MONKEY KING: WREAKING HAVOC IN THE DRAGON’S PALACE”
>> Run dates: 4 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, and 4 p.m. March 19
>> Where: Paliku Theatre, Windward Community College
>> Admission: $10 general admission ($5 for students, seniors, military and kids 16 and younger)
>> Length of play: 75 minutes
>> Intermission: No
>> Age recommendation: OK for all ages (but best appreciated by teens).
>> What it’s about: A monkey made of immortal stone from beyond the stars becomes a master martial artist and sorcerer but still has a penchant for monkey business.
>> Morals and messages: Sometimes people are not what they appear to be. You never know what someone is going to become. Sometimes a monkey is not just a monkey. With great power should come great responsibility.
>> Parental advisory: Some mild sexual innuendos. The word “poop” is used once.
>> Kid-pleaser aspects: Colorful costumes, acrobatics and martial arts battles accompanied by live musicians.
>> Playwright says: “One of the great things about Monkey King is that his story has lasted through the ages,” Nicolas Logue said. “He’s come back in anime, he’s come back in cartoons, he’s come back in live-action films with Jet Li. He is in essence a trickster god with all the powers of an immortal god, but he has this childlike naivete that makes him very attractive to children.”
>> Info: 235-7315 or eTicketHawaii.com
