Zheng He-When the Dragon Ships Came

Thursday 9 June 2016

Central Hall, West Tollcross, Edinburgh, EH3 9BP

The Confucius Institute for Scotland in the University of Edinburgh, in association with SCEN, is delighted to present this award winning show, blending puppetry, video and animation. The hour-long show tells the tale of the fantastic journeys of the famous Chinese explorer, Zheng He, whose voyages took him from Indonesia, India and the Arabian coast to Africa- almost 100 years before Christopher Columbus set off to America. 

His Chinese fleet of more than 300 enormous "dragon ships" proclaimed the power of the Chinese Emperor. While every child in China knows the story of Zheng He's travels (as does the Arab-speaking world, where he is known as Sinbad the sailor) in Europe his adventures remain largely unknown. 

Karin Schäfer of Figuren Theatre tells the story of this great Chinese explorer as encounters with some of those he met on his journey - a scholar from Arabia, an African fisherwoman and a businesswoman from Siam (Thailand). 

Winner of the Austrian Children and Youth Theatre Award STELLA 2011 this production has won many plaudits for its innovative set design, which features interaction between the video and the action on stage. The animated films, video clips, shadow images and masks form a poetic space which develops the narrative on a visual level, while the multi-lingual audio and musical score ensure that audience members are fully engaged by the production. 

Venue Website www.centralvenues.org

Video Extract of Production www.figurentheater.at/english/zheng_he_videoclip.html 

Confucius Institute for Scotland www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk 

We invite your school to make a provisional block booking for up to 40 students and staff for this FREE event on Thursday 9 June 2016, Central Hall, Tollcross, Edinburgh 1pm-2pm. 

Please email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk with the subject line Zheng He. We will then send you a registration form for your completion and return