From: "Maria Bodmann" <mariabodmann-AT-hotmail.com>
Subject: PUPT: Asian Puppetry Perf. in L.A.
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999 06:22:19 PST


Hi All!  Happy New Year!

Those of you in the L.A. area may like to attend one of these
performances.  If so, follow the directions below for 1/2 price tickets.
Hope to see you there.
Maria

For Immediate Release - Performances January 15 & 16, 2000!  Japan
America Theater

Discounted Tickets available for 1/15/00 at 8:00 p.m.

For Half Price Tickets ($10.00 ea.) contact GregPaulW-AT-aol.com (call 
323/461-1415)
Or e-mail or call me - shadow-AT-balibeyond.com or 818/768-7696

L.A. Guild of Puppetry people - this will be our January meeting (1/15
at 8 pm) and we will co-host the reception after the 8pm performance.
Hope to see you there - be sure to buy your tickets in advance for the
discounted price!

>Chinese Masterpiece to be presented as
>Sino-Japanese Puppet Theater

>         "San Guo Zhi (Sangokushi, in Japanese)" (A Tale of Three Kingdoms) 
>is a
>historic novel of sweeping proportions which has been a favorite of Asian
>peoples since ancient times.  Set in the third century at the time of the 
>fall
>of the Han Dynasty, the epic drama has been made into a puppet theater
>presentation through the joint efforts of Japan’s Kageboushi Theatre 
>Company
>and the Cheng du Puppet Arts Theatre Company of China.
>
>         First performed in Tokyo in 1990, it was three years in the making 
>to mark the
>10th anniversary of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty and has 
>been
>performed before an audience numbering more than 1.2 million in Japan.
>
>         The puppet drama will be presented at the Japan America Theatre in 
>Little
>Tokyo for two performances--on Saturday, January 15, at 8 p.m. and on 
>Sunday,
>January 16, at 2 p.m., as part of a world tour in the Year 2000 which will
>encompass Mexico, Canada, France, Korea and China as well as Los Angeles,
>Dallas, New Orleans and New York in the United States.   Tickets are $20
>orchestra, $18 balcony, and $10 for Groups, Students and Seniors  ($17
>orchestra and $15 balcony for members of the Japanese American Cultural &
>Community Center).
>
>         Some noted artists are associated with the production, including 
>the
>world-renowned doll maker Kawamoto Kihachiro, a good friend of the late Jim
>Henson, creator of the Muppets, and script writer James Miki, noted for his
>many historical dramas scripted for NHK as well as the puppeteers of 
>Kageboushi
>and Cheng du.  Kageboushi last performed at the Japan America Theatre in
>"Taketori Monogatari," the legend of the Bamboo Princess, in 1996.
>
>         With the addition of maps and other visual aids as well as 
>narration by native
>actors and subtitles, the production will be easily understood and enjoyed 
>by
>adults and children alike.
>
>         "San Guo Zhi," the puppet theater version will concentrate on two 
>famous
>episodes, the "Three Visits of Supplication" which forms Act I and the 
>"Battle
>of the Red Cliff," which is Act II.   "Three Visits of Supplication" is one 
>of
>hundreds of familiar sayings from the "San Guo Zhi" which has become part 
>of
>the common vernacular.  In order to restore the power of the Han emperor,
>loyalist general Liu Bei Xuande seeks the help of the brilliant strategist,
>Kongming, who is living in seclusion at Wolonggan (Sleeping Dragon Hill).   
>The
>general pays three visits to the military genius.  His courtesy and 
>persistence
>pays off, and Kongming provides him with the strategy of dividing China 
>into
>three kingdoms in order for Liu Bei to achieve his aims.  He later founds 
>the
>Shu Dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms.
>
>         In the "Battle of the Red Cliff," Kongming and Liu Bei, facing an 
>overwhelming
>number of enemy troops from the northern kingdom of Wei, devise victory by
>cunningly using the enemy’s own arrows.
>
>         "’San Guo Zhi’ is great entertainment.  The story has lasted for 
>centuries,
>because human nature does not change, and good outwitting and overcoming 
>evil
>is as fresh today as it was back in the third century.  It’s like watching
>Japanese animation in three dimension," declared a local enthusiast who saw 
>the
>puppet drama in Japan.

--
Maria Bodmann
shadow-AT-pacificnet.net
http://www.pacificnet.net/gamelan
Ph:  818/768-7696
Fax:  914/678-0386

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