1433: The Grand Voyage

The product of a three-year collaboration between Robert Wilson and U-Theatre, 1433 will be a dance/theater work in four acts, with each act divided into two scenes. The overall length of the work will be three hours with no interval. A narrator, an old lady, tells the story, which is based on the final voyage of the Chinese admiral Zheng He, a historical figure whose seven voyages with an enormous fleet from China—through the oceans of Southeast Asia, as far as the West coast of Africa and the East coast of India—is still considered an incredible feat of seamanship.

U-Theatre is a performing group that lives art. It strives for the understanding of art through studying and practicing traditional folk arts, martial arts, ceremonial rites, and modern performing art. Zen and sitting meditation, which are also incorporated into its curriculum, help shape the group's performing style: they drum thunderously, but under a state of mind that is peaceful and serene, in the pursuit of oneness with nature.

Founded in 1998, U-Theatre may be best described as philosophy in motion. For this company, performance is not an end in itself, but an aspect of a holistic way of life oriented in the Tao (the way). The relationship of the individual to the whole community—and by extension, of the group to its audiences worldwide—is portrayed without explicit narrative or the creation of imagined characters. U-Theatre’s rigorous aesthetic depends on disciplined training in various forms, including acting, martial arts, drumming, Tai-Chi, dance, and meditation, some drawn from the East, and some from the West.

Credits

Directed by Robert Wilson, with U Theatre of Taiwan

Starring Chih-Chun Huang and Mei-Yun Tang

Direction, set design, lighting concept: Robert Wilson
Music: Ornette Coleman, Dickie Landry, and Chih-Chun Huang     
Original script: Ruo-Yu Liu
Story line: Qi-Min Su
Costume design: Tim Yip
Dramaturgy and Associate Director: Sue Jane Stoker
Lighting design: A.J. Weissbard
Music Director: Dickie Landry
Aria design: Mei-Yun Tang
Text advisor: Ming-Cheng Chen
Text editing: Pai-Chi Hsieh

Commissioned and produced by National Chiang Kei-Shek Cultural Center, R.O.C.

In association with Change Performing Arts Milan and U Theatre of Taiwan