We are lovers of puppets in our family (and even have a puppeteer among our ranks), so when the chance to see “Monkey King” by Tears of Joy Theatre came up, we were excited to see what these particular puppets were all about. I knew a little of what to expect from the website (lots of puppets, comical pig sidekick, epic adventure), but didn’t realize that this was a production with such a deeply rich history. In fact, the mission of Tears of Joy Theatre is to produce, develop, and present puppet theatre that celebrates the diversity of world cultures.
The story behind this play dates back to an actual famous monk, Xuan Zang, who lived in the Chinese Tang Dynasty from 602-664 AD and whose adventures made a great contribution to Buddhism in China. Monkey King was written by Yang Feng, a fifth-generation Chinese puppeteer and playwright who worked locally in the Tears of Joy shop customizing puppets and teaching his craft, and is in its fourth time across Tears of Joy Theatre stages. Described as an allegorical rendition of Xuan Zang’s journey, mingled with Chinese fables, fairy tales, legends, superstitions, popular beliefs, religion, and monster stories, my kids summed it up as “really funny and fun.”
Monkey King is a story worth seeing for many reasons. Without giving too much away, here’s what we loved and what you need to know.
What the kids loved: making their very own puppets; frolicking baby monkeys with baby monkey voices; a pig with attitude who has a hard time being totally truthful and doing what he’s supposed to; puppets that soar and bounce across the stage; lively pacing; a protagonist with tons of bravery and wit; welcomed laughing; and a post-show meet and greet with puppets and their enthusiastic and welcoming puppeteers.
What we loved: off-street parking; a puppet craft to keep excited kiddos busy before we found our seats; a bathroom right off of the theater; a friendly and passionate introduction by managing director Maggie Chapin; an intimate yet child-friendly venue with padded stadium seats that everyone could see from; plenty of laughs; trying to figure out ‘how’d they do that?!”; the opportunity to expose the children to an adventure from another culture; a production that ended close to the 60 minute mark (AKA the ‘before the kids get too squirmy’ mark); and lessons of bravery, trust (both in yourself and others), using your noggin, and true friendship.
Logistics: There are a significant number of brief, near-pitch-black scene changes and the “demon” antagonist takes the form of multiple skeletal figures. That being said, Maggie’s introduction nips potential fears in the bud and assures children that no puppets leave the stage for the audience. My kids weren’t scared, but if there had been a big spider up there, we’d have had problems, so that’s a “just in case you need to know” bit of information.
Monkey King opened this weekend, but only plays through the 9th of February. There weren’t many open seats, so there’s no time to waste in getting tickets. The stage for this production is at the Imago Theatre at 17 SE 8th Ave. You can find more information on Tears of Joy Theatre and Monkey King, including show times and ticket sales, at www.tojt.org.
