March 9, 2010

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******A Boy, A Girl, and A Promise**

Many great love stories have been told throughout history – from Antony and Cleopatra to Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Everyone enjoys stories that end with some variation of ". . . and they lived happily ever after." On April 15 at 7:30 p.m., the World Theater at California State University, Monterey Bay will present a love story from the Kabuki theater, "The Legend of Morning Glory – A Boy, A Girl, and A Promise," written by master storyteller Brenda Wong Aoki.

The story dates to the early 1600s when Kabuki started in Japan. Aoki has created a monodrama, a play done by one actor, accompanied by a taiko drumming ensemble, dancers and live music. Her work synthesizes Japanese Noh and Kyogen theater, Commedia Dell'arte, modern dance and everyday experience.

"The Legend of Morning Glory" tells the story of the daughter of a powerful samurai, who meets and falls in love with a boy from a poor family. When the boy's love poem about the morning glory (a flower that blooms only for a few moments in the sun) blows into the girl's boat, she is determined to marry him, turning down the rich suitors her father has lined up for her. Finally she runs away, determined to marry the boy. Unaccustomed to the world outside her father's castle, she cries herself blind and makes a living as The Morning Glory, an itinerant storyteller famed for her tale of lost love. In the end, the two lovers meet one last time at a lonely inn on the banks of the Oi River.

"The story is about first love, the love everyone always remembers," Aoki said. "I heard this story from Pete Seeger when his wife, Toshi, invited me to perform with Pete and Arlo Guthrie when I was starting out as a young performer. At the time, Pete had tears in his eyes after he told the story. I didn't understand why he was so moved. I was too young. Today, many years later, I get it.

"In 2008, I was living in Japan and searching for a new story. I went to the Kabuki, the Noh and the Bunraku (puppet theater) but nothing moved me. I came home and I remembered Pete's story. This story comes from the Kabuki, but I wrote it from my own point of view," she said.

The performance features Aoki in the lead role; Asian jazz pioneer Mark Izu; taiko drumming by Maze Daiko; shakuhachi (traditional Japanese bamboo flutes) by Saxman Mas Koga; and dancers Kai Kane Aoki Izu and Emma Lanier. The performance is directed by Obie-award winner Jael Weisman, choreographed by Tony-nominated Kimi Okada, and has original music by Mark Izu and Janet Koike.

Aoki has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., New Victory Theater on Broadway, Hong Kong Performing Arts Center, the Adelaide Festival in Australia, the Esplanade in Singapore, and at the Graz Festival in Austria.

Tickets range from $10 to $40 and can be purchased by calling the World Theater box office at (831) 582-4580 or online at csumb.edu/worldtheater. The World Theater offers a buy-one, get-one-free promotion for the first 100 tickets sold to this performance.

The Otter Bay Restaurant, located in the building adjacent to the theater, is offering a special pre-show menu for this performance.

The World Theater is located on Sixth Avenue on the CSUMB campus. Driving directions and a campus map are available at CSUMB.edu/map.