SLIPPERY MOUNTAIN

SLIPPERY MOUNTAIN is one of the oldest Chinese fables: the story of Mulian, a monk on
the verge of enlightenment, who faces the ultimate test of will – escorting his mother
to hell for former misdeeds against Lord Buddha. But she says she is innocent …

Bringing together Western trained vocalists, instrumentalists and actors with singers
and musicians from the London Jing Kun Opera Association, Not So Loud Theatre
Company’s teahouse production melds authentic Peking Opera performance and
instruments with Western style clowning and orchestration to create a new and
dazzling synthesis of styles in the telling of this time-honoured tale.

Performed bilingually in English and Chinese, SLIPPERY MOUNTAIN is a beautiful,
innovative and thought-provoking piece of music theatre.

Cast includes Eriko Shimada as Mulian, ( Madame Butterfly for Raymond Gubbay),
Ghaffar Pourazar as his Di Zang Wang Boddhisatva and Ming Lu as the mother,
Charlie Tighe, Peter Savizon and Emilia Brodie in attendance and composer
Joe Townsend with renowned Chinese instrumentalist Joanna Qiu leading the orchestra.

Directed by Paddy Cunneen

Based on a text by Qi Zhixiang and Yang Xiaoxong from a translation by Martin Merz
with revised score and text by Joe Townsend, Paddy Cunneen and Tom Hope.