Chinese creation myths come to life with larger than life puppetry and a polyphonic chorus in this breathtaking theatrical event.
Book of Mountains and Seas is a daring, new work by award-winning composer Huang Ruo and MacArthur Fellow puppeteer/artist Basil Twist. In this pitch perfect collaboration, the show takes on ancient Chinese creation myths—first transcribed in the 4th Century BC—which are strikingly relevant to our current climate change emergency. An ensemble of massive puppets, as beautiful as they are intimidating, and the chorus of Ars Nova Copenhagen harness music and a stunning visual tableaux to offer a portrait of the natural world and our vital, yet tenuous, relationship to it.
Basil Twist is a third-generation puppeteer and object theater artist, renowned globally for his visionary adaptations of opera, dance, and theater. Chinese-born American composer Huang Ruo has been called “one of the world’s leading young composers” and was formerly Composer in Residence at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Info

Venue
Emerson Paramount Center
Robert J. Orchard Stage
559 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02111
Dates
Apr 19, 2024 - Apr 21, 2024
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“Book of Mountains & Seas” is an exquisite masterpiece of suggestion, an immersive tapestry of sound and image that weaves itself into your consciousness and makes its point about the interdependence of humans and their planet without ever saying it outright.
— Heidi Waleson, Wall Street Journal
“A beautiful performance that makes us reflect on the vulnerability of our performance”
— Beth Morrison Projects
“Splendid puppetry, imbued with poignancy and the pulsing, drum-driven drama of mythic quest”
— New York Times