The Chinese people adore the Monkey King, the pompous Peking Opera character whose arrogance, prowess and adventures have captured their hearts for hundreds of years.

 

 

Now the eccentric figure is on his way to Shanghai, and this time he promises to communicate with a wider audience.

 

For those who find Peking Opera a jarring and incomprehensible collection of sounds, Ghaffar Pourazar will bring a modern twist, performing the show in English.

 

The Monkey King's adventures in Journey to the West, the most popular story in China, particularly among children, is being performed as close as possible to its traditional Peking Opera form, but in a way that is understood by an English-speaking audience.

 

It will be performed by Pourazar and 14 Chinese Peking Opera actors, with roles for some Shanghai expats. Proceeds go to a Shanghai charity.

 

"The market in China is diminishing while it competes with pop, rock 'n' roll, rap, Disney and Hollywood, particularly among young people," says Pourazar, who leads the International Monkey King Troupe.

 

"However, there is a massive market out there among the people of the world who are waiting to enjoy and adore 'the most beautiful and complete theater in the world,' only if they understand it," he says.

 

Educated in England, Pourazar, an ex-computer animator, fell for Peking Opera in 1993 after seeing a performance by the Beijing City Opera Troupe at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Southbank for the London International Festival of Theater. From there he followed the troupe around the UK and ended up in Beijing with them.

 

Now the International Monkey King Troupe comprised of 15 actors and musicians is led by Pourazar, the British performer who became the first Westerner to complete the rigorous course of training at the National Academy for Traditional Chinese Opera.

 

Pourazar adapted the Monkey King to more of a Western musical rather than a Peking Opera style to interact with a Western audience.

 

"After lecture demonstrations for VIP visitors in Beijing and at embassies and International schools, the need to adapt was obvious," Pourazar explains.

 

The new show contains four acts: "Born from Stone," "Initiation by the Immortal Teacher," "Havoc in the Dragon Palace" and "Havoc in Heaven."

 

It draws on Chinese face painting and Peking Opera training, techniques and history.

 

For his first public performance in Shanghai, Pourazar has joined up with the Loving Hearts Association, a charity promoting compassion and social responsibility to inspire youth growing up in a market-oriented economy to love others.

 

The charity, set up 13 years ago by a retired head mistress, was a response to the problems of the modern era.

 

"Children had lost respect for their teachers. She realized the old ways of discipline were not working," says Corrine Richeux Hua, fundraising director of the association.

 

"The charity was initially inspired by an Italian book called Loving Education (Ai De Jiaoyu) that illustrates that those who grow up with love become more loving and compassionate adults," Richeux Hua adds. "All proceeds go to the charity, so we are hoping for a full house."

 

Holding workshops each weekend for the children taking part in the performance, Richeux Hua says: "It's a real community event with people from all sorts of backgrounds getting involved."

 

Formally a part-time teacher at the Peking Opera school, Pourazar is "used to children of this age who work with their natural joy and love of life and movement."

 

"During the workshop, it was so pleasing to see very young children play relentlessly as they do and yet suddenly settle down calmly and concentrate on the story and the movements of the monkey play as if mesmerized by magic. Then they run around and play again," he says.

 

In an effort to help foreigners understand and appreciate Peking Opera, Shanghai's "Monkey King" has also found expats to fit some of the roles that deviate slightly from the traditional Peking Opera style.

 

"We have one lady who performs a song called I'm Going to Kill That Monkey in a rap style, adding a modern twist to the traditional performance," says Richeux Hua.

 

"This helps people find out something deep about Chinese culture and Chinese people that they could never find anywhere else," Pourazar concludes.

 

Date: December 8-9, 7:15 PM

 

Venue: Ge Zhi Theater, 150 Beihai Rd, Shanghai

 

(Shanghai Daily December 1, 2006)