MONKEY: THE QUEST TO THE WEST
A World Premiere by Fred Curchack

Adapted from the comic Chinese classic, The Journey to the West
Created and Performed by Laura Jorgensen and Fred Curchack

The story follows the supernatural trickster Monkey King who makes war with heaven until he is imprisoned under a mountain by Buddha. After five hundred years, he is freed to protect a Buddhist monk on his perilous journey from China to India to bring back spiritual teachings. On the way they encounter all manner of deities, demons, monsters and outrageous misadventures.

This magical story has been adapted by the Beijing Opera, several kung fu movies (Jackie Chan and Jet Li are currently teaming up in a new version), plays, rock operas, cartoons, anime, manga, and cult TV series in China, Japan, England, and the U.S. (“Lost Empire”).

Laura and Fred’s recent show, NOH: ANGELS, DEMONS, & DREAMERS was recently chosen as one of the “Top Ten Theater Events of 2007” by the Dallas Morning News (see reviews below).  MONKEY: THE QUEST TO THE WEST promises to take their acclaimed theater work to still a new level of magic and delight.

This production is appropriate for children, teens, and sophisticated grownups alike.
 
When: Fridays and Saturdays, January 25, 26 & February 1, 2 at 8 PM
Tickets: $20 for adults and $15 for students/seniors

 
Bios
Fred Curchack has created over seventy original theatre works, twenty-six of them solos, and his performances have been featured at dozens of international theatre festivals. He has received the Gold Medal at the International Festival of Solo Theatre, the American Theatre Wing Award and Critics’ Awards in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas and Austin. Mr. Curchack’s work has been included in "Best of the Week" in the L.A. Times, “Top Ten of the Year" in The New York Times, "Top Ten of the Decade" in the Austin Chronicle, and in the "Top Ten of All-time" in The Dallas Morning News.He has received funding from Creative Capital, the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts International, The Henson Foundation and is a Guggenheim Fellow. After receiving a drama degree from the High School of Performing Arts in N.Y., and a BA and MA in Theater from Queens College, Curchack studied Indian Kathakali, Japanese Noh, Balinese Topeng, choreography with Alwyn Nikolais, and he trained with Grotowski’s Polish Theater Lab. He has taught theatre at the United Nations International School, N.Y.; Sonoma State University, California; and is currently Professor of Art and Performance at The University of Texas at Dallas. This is his sixth happy theatrical collaboration with Laura.

Laura Jorgensen was an original member of Western Union Theater Company, which was in residence at Cinnabar for ten years. She has performed in Craig Lucas’ Blue Window and Reckless, Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind, Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest, Christopher Durang’s Laughing Wild, Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance and Three Tall Women, Terrence McNally’s A Perfect Ganesh, G.B. Shaw’s Heartbreak House, Alan Bennet’s Talking Heads,  Athol Fugard’s The Road to Mecca and Sarah Ruhl’s The Clean House. She created roles in the world premieres of John O’Keefe’s Glamour and Queer Theory. While living in Budapest, she worked with The English Theater Company and directed their production of Our Country’s Good.  Recently, she performed in Porchlight Theatre’s production of Oscar Wilde’s The Ideal Husband. She has created and performed five shows with Fred, including The Mental Traveler, Golden Buddha Beach, Sexual Myth-Stories, An American Dream Play, and NOH: Angels, Demons, & Dreamers.

Reviews of shows by Laura and Fred:
NOH: Angels, Demons, & Dreamers:
“TOP TEN SHOWS OF 2007” … genius … five masterpieces, all brilliantly performed … Ms. Jorgensen’s mastery, whatever the style, comes through in every inflection and carefully pitched sentence. … loads of laughs … No actor in the English-speaking world can penetrate the darkest emotions of tragedy better than Mr. Curchack. … Great depth and great delicacy – you'll find them both in this one.”
-- Lawson Taitte, Dallas Morning News

“genius …  astonishing … leaves you weak with laughter … This is theater as sacred art … The work of Curchack and Jorgensen is humbling, both for the long discipline it shows and the spiritual mastery it implies.” -- Glenn Arberry, People News

“amazing performers … Each short and enthralling piece goes straight to the emotional heart of the human beings at their centers. Both Jorgensen and Curchack embody each character so completely -- in voice, movement and costume -- that I forgot there were just two actors in the show. … Theatre doesn't actually offer a more totally cathartic experience than this, even in the most lavish of productions.”
                                                -- Martha Heimberg, Turtle Creek News

“ethereal, entrancing … you owe it to yourself to attend this fresh, unusual production. … Spellbinding, elegant, heart wrenching, a tour de force — the production sped by so fast I wasn’t sure if I dreamed it all. It’s magnificent and pure magic! … Curchack and Jorgensen are both masters of their craft, creating art that captivates its audience and illuminates truth.”
                                    -- Alexandra Bonifield, Pegasus News

Golden Buddha Beach:
            "Fred Curchack, master magician of performance art, has just doubled his fire power by hooking up with legendary North Bay actress Laura Jorgensen. … an overwhelming presentation … Golden Buddha Beach is innovative, challenging and very, very funny … Jorgensen has brought the missing piece to Curchack's challenging, jigsaw puzzle of multi-media madness.  The soul-baring narration, wit, unique stagecraft and jaw-dropping acting and singing will win over all but the most conservative of theatergoers.”
                        -- Ron Singer, Sonoma Sun

An American Dream Play:
            “American Dream Play” puts Fred Curchack and Laura Jorgensen on the “A” team of performance artists in America. … This production is a joy.  The laughter these two evoke in sophisticated audiences may be as important as the revelations … a good part of the joy they bring is through their clowning. Jorgensen and Curchack are wonderful clowns in the European sense: They are poets who can do and be anything.
                         -- Ron Singer, Sonoma Sun