Book of Mountains and Seas

“Splendid puppetry, imbued with poignancy and the pulsing, drum-driven drama of mythic quest"—The New York Times

A daring new work by composer Huang Ruo and puppeteer/designer/director Basil Twist, Book of Mountains and Seas is a modern take on ancient Chinese creation myths, first transcribed in the 4th Century BC, yet strikingly relevant to our current struggle with climate change. An ensemble of massive puppets, as fanciful as they are terrifying, and the chorus of Ars Nova Copenhagen challenge us through music and stunning visual tableaux to consider the power 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.