Cathay: Three Tales of China

2005–2012
Puppetry

About the Production

Cathay: Three Tales of China is an original puppet theatre work about China's ancient past, its tumultuous recent history, and its 21st century reemergence as a global economic force. The first tale, “The Lady and the Emperor” takes place in the Tang Dynasty. The second, “Little Worm,” takes place during World War II and the third, “NEW” at the beginning of the 21st century. Cathay was composed of three separate tales with characters and storylines crossing centuries and distances to converge in the final story. The production includes over 150 puppets, combining traditional and contemporary puppetry, an elaborate recorded soundtrack and video projections.

Production Team And Cast

Conceived, Written and Directed by

Ping Chong

Lighting Design

Randy Ward

Costume Design

Stefani Mar

Set and Production Design

Randy Ward

Sound Design

Christopher Walker

Puppetry

Wang Bo and Stephen Kaplin

Projection Design

Rupert Bohle

Voice Recording

Brian Hallas

Stage Manager

Claire Zawa

Tour Manager

Deirdre Valente - Lisa Booth Management, Inc.

Production Manager

Lu Xianglin (China)

Technical Director

Dana Perrault

Cast of Puppeteers

Feng Mei, Liang Yunru, Liang Jun, Song Dongqing, Wang Bo, Yang Qing, Dmitri Carter, Heather Carter and Yang Xie Zheng

Performance History

Premiere

Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle, WA (September 2005)

Tours

The Kennedy Center, Festival of China, Washington, DC (October 2005)

The New Victory Theatre in New York City (October 2005)

The Vienna Festival, Vienna, Austria (June 2006)

The People’s Theatre, Xi'an, China (October 2010 and May 2012)

The Chengdu International Puppet Festival, Chengdu, PRC (May 2012)

Grand Theatre, Nanchong, PRC (June 2012)

Partners

The Shaanxi Folk Art Theatre (Xi’an, PRC)

The Carter Family Puppet Theater of Seattle, WA.

The Seattle Repertory Theatre

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China for the Festival of China

Funders

National Endowment for the Arts

Association of Performing Arts Presenters Ensemble Theatre Collaborations Grant Program

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Theatre Initiative

Asian Corporate Cultural Council

Leon Levy Foundation

Theatre Communications Group/MetLife Foundation Extended Collaboration Grant.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group