Meeting with Bodhisattva

Part of the 2008 Next Wave Festival

Oct 29, 31 & Nov 1 at 7:30pm

U Theatre
Directed by Liu Ruo-Yu

"...their bodies act out a language both religious and artistic, as the drums and gongs rattle the hearts of the audience."—Taiwan Review

Thirteen drummers slice through the air, striking their instruments with impossible precision. Their mantra is silent yet clear: rid the mind of impurity, relinquish the dualism that divides thought and act—and become the drum. It's age-old Buddhist insight remade in rhythm in Meeting with Bodhisattva, U Theatre's (The Sound of Ocean, BAM 2003 Next Wave Festival) new work devoted to the God of Wisdom.

Under the direction of Liu Ruo-Yu and music director Huang Chih-Chun, Taiwan's most revered theater troupe breaks from its own rigorous training high on Laochuan Mountain to offer up—and to embody—this immensely physical tale of the search for inner calm amid chaos. Through an enlightening whirlwind of athletic drumming, martial arts, Buddhist chanting, and Chinese operatic dance, Meeting with Bodhisattva tells of one man's chance encounter with a deity, whose only way to wisdom is through letting go.

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
Running time: 80min, no intermission
Tickets: $20, 35, 45


Set and lighting design Lin Keh-Hua
Costume design Tim Yip

U Theatre Site
The web home of Taiwan's enlightened, enigmatic U Theatre. More

The New York Times of The Sound Of Ocean
The U Theatre was most recently at BAM with this "mesmerizing" work. More

Article from Taiwan Review
An engaging profile on U Theatre, their rituals, and "sharing the nothingness." More

Article from Taiwan Journal
"We learn meditation first, drumming later," says percussion director Huang Chih-Chun. More

Jerzy Grotowski's Statement of Principles
U Theatre director Liu Ruo-Yu studied with the famous Polish theater director. More

Introduction to Buddhism
For the uninitiated, a succinct introduction to Buddhism. More