Events Calendar

The Asian Studies Program at the University of Scranton will present an authentic Asian shadow puppetry performance by the Yung Shing Le Theatre Troupe from Taiwan featuring live music, a Q & A, and a backstage visit, on November 15, 7 PM, at the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center. The performance will include three different shadow plays, “The Sandbag Trilogy,” “The Mountain of Flames” and “The Peach Boy.”  With an emphasis on preserving the traditional art form, this century-old family theater has handed down traditional practices and stories through five generations, while also infusing modern techniques and original stories to keep this art form relevant to modern audiences.

Of the three plays, The Sandbag Trilogy is a modern mime play. In this playful script, the enchantment of puppeteering comes alive as a Monkey, Wrestler, and Panda each encounter a sandbag that blocks its path. Watch how each of them tackles the problem and how shadow theatre uses creative techniques to tell the story.  

The Mountain of Flames features scenes from the classic Chinese novel, Journey to the West, provides countless stories of fantasy and magic retold in opera and theatre repertoires.  Monkey, a roguish hero full of mischief, goes on a hazardous quest to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures accompanied by the saintly monk, Tripitaka, and disciples Pigsy, Sandy and their endearing Horse.  Along the way, the troupe encounters demons and monsters, fairies and gods, in a fantastic story of adventure and allegory.  

Adopted from a popular Japanese folklore, The Peach Boy is about a child inside a giant peach floating down a river, and was found by an old, childless woman. Years later, the peach boy left his parents to fight a band of demons on a distant island.  In his journey, he befriended a talking dog, a monkey and a pheasant, who agreed to help him in his quest. The adventure then begins.

This event is free and open to the public, co-sponsored by the Asian Studies Program at the University of Scranton and the Taipei Cultural Office in New York.  For more information, contact Professor Ann A. Pang-White at 570-941-6312 or email ann.pang-white@scranton.edu