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.

 

Sound of the Ocean is not a narrative drama performance. There is neither storyline, nor dialogue. It simply and abstractly expresses the conception of “water”. The audiences do not need to seek storyline from it, but to feel the flowing of water. The flowing of water represents the journey of life, and each audience is set to experience their own life’s story right there, and response themselves to Sound of the Ocean. Sound of the Ocean is a sharing, between the performers and the audiences – sharing life, sharing continuous moments and sharing the present.

 

 

U-Theatre
Thousands of years ago, the Chinese Zen Masters had said, “A true artist must combine ‘Tao – training of one’s own life’ with ‘Art – practice of aesthetics of life’ together as one. ”The philosophy of “Tao and Art as One” is U-Theatre’s goal of creation and life.

The “U” of U-Theatre is a phonetic transcript of a Chinese character meaning “excellence”. In ancient China, this word also referred to “professional performers”.

 

 

Founded in 1988 with a focus on Zen in the art of drumming, U-Theatre and its practice may be best described as attaining the state of total calmness while in motion. For this troupe, a performance is not an end in itself, but rather an approach to a holistic way of life oriented in the Tao.

In its works, the relationship of the individual to the whole community – and by extension, of the group to its audiences worldwide – is portrayed without explicit narrative or the creation of imagined characters. The result is a fascinating and unique mode of contemporary theatre that is process based, finely tuned, and performer dependent. It is grounded in a collective experience predicated on each member’s personal search for enlightenment and inner balance.

 

 

U-Theatre’s rigorous aesthetic depends on disciplined training in various forms – meditation, drumming, martial arts, Tai Chi, dance, and acting – drawn from both the East and the West, ancient and modern cultures. “Like monks preparing themselves for a grand ceremony… their virtuosity is spectacular…” remarked Le Figaro of U-Theatre’s awe-inspiring performance in France at theFestival d’Avignon 1998.

 

 

 

Artistic Director: Liu Ruo-Yu

 

 

Music Director: Huang Chih-Chun

 

 

Set/Lighting Design: Lin Keh-Hua

 

 

Costume Design: Tim Yip