Works & Process at the Guggenheim will present San Francisco Opera: THE MONKEY KING (猴王悟空) by Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang with Diane Paulus, on March 9, 2025 at the Peter B. Lewis Theater, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10128 at 7pm.
Go behind the scenes with composer Huang Ruo, librettist David Henry Hwang and director Diane Paulus as they discuss their newest collaboration, THE MONKEY KING (猴王悟空), with moderator Ken Smith. Hear excerpts ahead of the production's November 2025 world premiere at San Francisco Opera.
Commissioned by San Francisco Opera in partnership with the Chinese Heritage Foundation of Minnesota, the work is drawn from the opening chapter of Journey to the West (16th c.), a Ming Dynasty novel widely considered one of China's four greatest literary classics. THE MONKEY KING follows the ambition of its title character, who once born from a stone, wreaks havoc in the heavens in a bid for immortality. Through cleverness and determination, he wins battles against warriors and proves himself to the gods who doubted him. In recent years the mythic hero's popularity has exploded through movies and animated film, television and video games.