A fantasy show based on one of China's most famous novel Journey to the West was staged here on Monday night, bring a fresh mixture of traditional legend and modern performance technique to visitors in this special administrative region.
The performance, dubbed Monkey King - China Show, is based on one of ancient China's four most influential literature works Journey to the West. A group of drama writers, stage artists and technicians spent eight years to bring the Chinese elements of myths, fairy tales, drama, comedy, slapstick, magic and acrobatics into 70 minutes' performance.
The acting scenes encompass the Monkey King, the Monk and other two companies of the journey against stunning backdrops switching between the heaven, the Buddhist circle, the devil realm and mortal world, creating a rich and multi-layered narrative space for ballet dance, acrobatics, drama, martial arts and magic performances.
One of the spectacular scenes comes when the Buddha hand, armed with eight Talismans of Buddhism and carrying aurora and rainbow, strikes talons into the dust with a holy postlude to 'Ode to Buddha' at the end, expressing its overall theme of changing evil into good and hatred into love.
All of these elements are complemented by acrobats, ballet dancers, and martial arts masters from all around the world, including stars from the National Peking Opera, the cast members of the world famous Cirque du Soleil, as well as winners of the Golden Clown Award and the International Acrobatics Competition. The audience was overwhelmed by the jaw-dropping flips and bounce of acrobats and their seamless coordination.
The show also features the advanced 3D effects, LED screen projections, video mapping and full surround sound with creative lighting effects, choreography, music and spectacular costumes.
