Brookline's Youth Chorus 'Voices Boston' To Perform In New Opera

BROOKLINE, MA — Brookline's youth chorus Voices Boston will be participating in a new opera From Friday, Sept. 22 to Sunday, Sept. 24 on the Robert J. Orchard Stage at Boston’s Emerson Paramount Center.

"MONKEY: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable" is a project by activist opera company White Snake Projects (WSP) and its founder Cerise Lim Jacobs, who are celebrated for creating diverse, timely and relevant opera.

Set to a libretto by Jacobs with a score by composer Jorge Sosa, this family-friendly transmedia show combines unique, life-scaled Bunraku puppetry, Kung Fu, computer generated images, and live opera.

Based on the epic Chinese fable “Monkey King: Journey to the West,” MONKEY is rewritten to reflect contemporary issues from the multicultural mosaic of American life. With a cast carefully chosen to reflect the diversity of the characters, the movement-based ensemble of experienced puppeteers, physical theater performers, and Kung Fu practitioners animates the story’s three main characters – Monkey, Pig (Zhu), and Sandwoman (Shu) - alongside opera singers and members of Voices Boston.

The 16th-century Chinese novel, “Xi you ji,” also known as “Journey to the West,” is one of the most popular books in East Asia today, as well as a seed-text for children’s stories, films, anime and comics.

A native of Singapore, Jacobs grew up with the story of Monkey and has always had a fondness for the rascal.

“I always wanted to write about dear Monkey, he of the “monkey mind,” the ever restless, ever-changing, ever curious quicksilver mind,” Jacobs said in a statement. “Perhaps I feel some affinity for his plight as all around try to tame him and teach him the virtue of stillness.”

Some critics view this classic as pure entertainment about a mischievous monkey, others a satirical critique of 16th-century China, and still others as a religious allegory. According to Jacobs, “it was supposed to be a Buddhist morality tale, but it has become a great adventure quest saga instead. An ancient Wizard of Oz tale for our times!”

MONKEY marks the fourth time Jacobs teams up with Mexican-born composer and sound artist Jorge Sosa. Their first collaboration was WSP’s opera "I Am a Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams." They later collaborated on the digital opera "Alice in the Pandemic" and "Samiir’s Feast," a holiday opera celebrating Eid al Adha.

White Snake Projects’ 2023-24 programming is supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mass Cultural Council, the Boston Cultural Council, Reopen Creative Boston Fund, administered by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture and the Ditson Fund.