This stunning company has been described as a synthesis of theatre, percussion, martial arts and meditation. This premiere Houston performance will be one of only three U.S. engagements this year.
U Theatre will perform Sound of the Ocean, a soul stirring synthesis of music, theatre, percussion, martial arts-influenced choreography and meditation. U means “performers” in traditional Chinese Opera. The company was founded in 1988 by Artistic Director Ms. Liu Ruo-Yu. From its home on LaochuanMountain on the outskirts of Taipei, this remarkable company has performed regularly throughout Taiwan and around the world, in the U.S., France, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Norway. In 1993, she invited Huang Chih-Chun, a professional traditional Chinese percussionist, to teach U Theatre members drumming. Drumming and meditation, together with martial arts and theatre, have since become essential elements of all U Theatre performances and constitute their unique performing style which delivers epic and powerful performances. Artistic Director Liu Ruo-Yu and Music Director Huang Chih-Chun are joined by highly acclaimed Lighting and Set Designer Lin Keh-Hua and Costume Designer Tim Yip. U Theatre: Sound of the Ocean is managed by June Huang Projects and is supported in part by the Council for Cultural Affairs, Taiwan R.O.C. and the Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York.
Sound of the Ocean, a monumental work about water, was originally created in 1998 to celebrate U Theatre’s 10th Anniversary for a performance at the world-renowned French Festival d’Avignon. Sound of the Ocean tells of the “water of life, which nourishes our souls.” The music and drumming and movement simulate the remarkably diverse and distinctive sounds of water in its five sections: Collapse, Flowing Water,Breakers, Listening to the Ocean Heart, and Sound of the Ocean as individual drops gather together to form a stream and streams create a river which eventually rushes into the ocean. The New York Times said, “There is a great and complex beauty to the drumming, sounds and silence and simple beats and intricate meshes of precisely articulated rhythms.” From the quiet tiny drops to the crashing waves of the mighty sea, Sound of the Ocean is a moving and thoroughly entertaining theatrical experience
