December 3, 2001

East Meets West in Little Red Riding Hood: The Chinese Opera Performance at Ramapo College

(Mahwah)— The Chinese Theater Workshop will present Little Red Riding Hood: the Chinese Opera Sunday, December 16 at 3 p.m. in the Sharp Theater at Ramapo College of New Jersey. In this presentation, the well-known folktale is transformed into a cross-cultural journey for audiences young and old, East and West. A New York Times review states, ". . . promises to take Little Red Riding Hood on a journey far more thrilling than a trip to Grandma’s house."

The hour-long production is an original work in both English and Chinese. Using the classic western story as a window, audiences experience the traditional style of Chinese theater including costume, makeup, music, dance, pantomime, humor and fight choreography.

The actors in the production are professionally trained Peking and Kung opera actors, who have performed around the world. Many of the scenes and dances are inspired by classic Peking Opera’s performances such as "Picking up a Bracelet," and "Fighting in the Dark." The traditional physical training and creative use of body and voice combine in the actors’ performance of the story though opera-style poetry, dialogue in English and songs in Chinese. Audience-goers are encouraged to act like a Chinese audience, applauding and saying "good" in Chinese for the scenes that are exciting.

Kuang-Yu Fong, writer and director of the production, founded the Chinese Theater Workshop in 1990. The workshop presents approximately 30 traditional opera performances, workshops and several original new works a year. Fong’s dual mission for the company is to preserve and promote classical Chinese theater through performance, research and teaching, as well as to create new works that reflect contemporary values, spirit and social issues by combining Chinese and western theater.

Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for seniors and $7 for children. The Sharp Theater is located in the Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts on the Ramapo College campus. For more information or to order tickets, please call (201) 684-7844.