Grin & Tonic / Monkey Magic

	Bryan Nason's re-telling for performance
	of
	the ancient Chinese classic,
	thought to have been written down by Wu Ch'eng-en


WHERE:	Roma Street Parkland Amphitheatre, Brisbane, Qld, AUSTRALIA (romastreetparkland.com)
WHEN:	Opening Night:	FRIDAY 3 February 2006
	Last Show:	Season has Finished


HOW MUCH:	$30 / $25 Friday & Saturday, all tickets $20 Sunday
	and all children at any performance (15 yrs or under) $15
	$15 each for student groups (10 or more)

"These are troubled times ‑

The people of the world are greedy and quarrelsome,

awkward and lacking in grace ‑

The Buddha fears for them ‑

The one hope for humankind is to send pilgrims on a journey

to fetch ancient scriptures that will save the world ‑

Time is brief as the ink on the precious scriptures is fading.

So who is sent on this perilous journey to collect the writings and...

subsequently, save the world?

One holy fool,

One monkey full of irrepressible life,

A pig with a touch or two of lust,

And a fish philosopher..."

tells the tale of Tripitaka, Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy, and the adventures they have, the
demons they face, and the lessons they learn ... all while saving the human race!!

Grin & Tonic's production of MONKEY is based on one of the masterly achievements
of the Ming dynasty, the popular classic, The Journey to the West, Hsi‑yu chi, whose
central figures are a magical monkey and a young Buddhist priest. This sixteenth
century novel is as long in the East as the Bible is in the West, so in our re‑telling,
Bryan has chosen specific events that connect and resonate with modern audiences.

Monkey's story, and Tripitaka's story, like all great yarns, is of course,
our own story ‑
Where do we go, who do we take with us, who do we meet along the way,
where shall we look, what shall we find ..
How do 1 deal with this monster, or that ..
Are these demons in me, or outside of me ‑
How do we make the big river reach the sea again?
What are the writings that will save the world?"

‑ Bryan Nason

Grin & Tonic has previously performed the epic Chinese tale in New Farm Park as part of the Brisbane Festival in 2002, and a mini‑version took place in Bryan's own backyard in 2004. But now, February 2006 promises a re‑telling of MONKEY and His Magic Journey to the West that will break all previous boundaries in music, battles, loyalty and cloud‑flying, on the stage of the Roma Street Parkland Amphitheatre.


The Cast!!!
MONKEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROSS BALBUZIENTE
TRIPITAKA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NIKI-J WITT
PIGSY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROSS LOWE
SANDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VANJA MATULA
KUAN-YIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BRYAN NASON
THE DEMONS & BUDDHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RONNY McKENZIE
THE SPIDER QUEEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NADINE KELLY
THE YOUNG EMPEROR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TRAVIS BROWN-ASH
THE JADE EMPEROR & LAO TZU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NICK STEWART

Written, Designed & Directed by Bryan Nason Music by Nick Stewart of george, Elixir & The Spheres


PRESENTED BY:
GRIN & TONIC and GNT2, IN PROUD PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ROMA ST PARKLAND
A scene from Monkey.

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Monkey and His Magic Journey to the West.