Acclaimed Shanghai Theatre Academy to Perform with CSW Students
The Cambridge School of Weston (CSW) welcomes the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) for three performances of "The Confucius Project" October 20 at 10 a.m.; October 21 at 7:30 p.m.; and October 22 at 1 p.m. All performances will be in CSW's Robin Wood Theatre, 45 Georgian Road, Weston, Mass.
The Cambridge School of Weston (CSW) Theatre Department welcomes the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) for three, collaborative and multi-lingual performances based on the "Confucius' Disciples," October 20 at 10 a.m.; October 21 at 7:30 p.m.; and October 22 at 1 p.m. All performances will be in CSW's Robin Wood Theatre, 45 Georgian Road, Weston, Mass.
These performances are the culmination of a yearlong partnership between the CSW and STA, the oldest professional theatre school in the Asian Pacific region and the headquarters of the Asian Pacific Bureau for Theatre Schools of UNESCO Chair ITI. It is also China’s only comprehensive school of arts at the national level.
"The Confucius project" is a series of short plays about China’s greatest educator Confucius (551-479 BC) and his three fictional teenage disciples. Modeled after the classic novel "Journey to the West" about Buddhist monk Xuan Zang and his three disciples, this project is set during Confucius’ historic travels to various warring states promoting his philosophy and statecraft.
These performances are the culmination of a yearlong partnership between the CSW and STA, the oldest professional theatre school in the Asian Pacific region and the headquarters of the Asian Pacific Bureau for Theatre Schools of UNESCO Chair ITI. It is also China’s only comprehensive school of arts at the national level.
The partnership between CSW and STA began in conjunction with the launch of CSW's new Mandarin program and the T5 Institute. The STA will perform three of the plays and feature a few of China's most decorated Bejing Opera Performers (Wang Lijun, Zhao Qun, and Zhu Yufeng). CSW students will speak and sing in a mix of Mandarin and English.
While the plays are essentially allegories, all characters are based on role types of traditional Chinese opera rendered in stylized movement patterns. The core characters are: Confucius, old male type; Zilu, painted face, warrior type; Zitu, clown type; Qinran, martial female type impersonating a man. CSW students will perform an adaptation of “The Beauty Trap” one of four plays in "The Confucius project."
This fall, eight CSW students travelled to China to perform the Beijing Opera their adaptation at the International Theatre Institute Festival at the World Congress in Xiamen, where they were the only high school represented among the 140 international participants and the only performance troupe from the United States. This performance is just one of many the CSW students staged throughout China as part of the mod-long trip.
“The show went beautifully,” wrote Kaela Cote-Stemmermann ’14 in her travel blog. “It was an incredible event, and I’m so glad we got to take part in it.”
Prior to their arrival in Xiamen, they performed and attended classes at the Shanghai American School; they trained and performed with the Zhejiang Opera Company in Hangzhou; and worked closely with professional Chinese actors at the Shanghai Theatre Academy.
For more information about the Confucius Project, visit www.csw.org/confucius
For more information about the Confucius Project, visit www.csw.org/confucius
CSW—a gender-inclusive day and boarding school for grades 9-12—is a national leader in progressive education. We live out our values of inquiry-based learning, student agency, and embracing diverse perspectives in every aspect of our student experience. Young people come to CSW to learn how to learn and then put what they learn into action—essential skills they carry into their futures as doers, makers, innovators, leaders, and exceptional humans who do meaningful work in the world.