UCSC Theater Arts Dept. presents Buddhist tales from Southeast Asia
By Scott Rappaport (831) 459-2496; srapp ucsc.

The UCSC Theater Arts Department will present Before Becoming Buddha:
Jataka Tales of the Previous Lives--a collection of Buddhist stories
from Southeast Asia told through music, dance, masks, puppets,
dialogue, and song--May 31 and June 1-3 at the Theater Arts Center
Mainstage.

The show is under the direction of theater arts professor Kathy
Foley, a specialist in Southeast Asian performing arts. UCSC alumnus
Ben Arcangel is the choreographer; and Undang Sumarna, director of
UCSC's West Javanese gamelan ensemble, will direct a live ensemble of
musicians for the production.

Jataka are the stories of the Buddha's previous lives, and they draw
on a wide body of South Asian literature, including important epics
such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata and animal tales from the
Pancatantra.

"I invite audiences into these stories with hopes that they will wish
to take up the message implied by the pictures, puppets, masks, and
singers," said Foley. "Right here and now we can begin a journey
whose ultimate destination is the perfected universe. Music, dance,
and the world of art can embody not just what we are, but that other
we might be."

One of the first foreign artists ever invited to perform wayang
(puppetry) at the Indonesian National Festival of Traditional
Theatre, Foley has been involved in the arts of Sunda, West Java,
since l974. She has performed and lectured throughout the United
States for audiences ranging from the National Geographic Society to
the Santa Cruz artists-in-the-schools program. Foley was a Fulbright
Senior Scholar in Indonesia and has taught annually at Chulalongkorn
University in Bangkok since 2003. She is also editor of the Asian
Theatre Journal.

The evening shows begin at 7 p.m. and the Sunday matinee at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $13, general admission, $9 seniors and students w/ID.
UCSC undergraduates are admitted free with valid ID. For more
information, contact the UCSC Ticket Office: (831) 459-2159, or
SantaCruzTickets.com (service charges may apply).
--
Kathy Foley
Professor, Theatre Arts
Editor, Asian Theatre Journal
J-15 Theatre Arts
1156 High St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
tel. (831) 459-4189
fax (831) 459-5359