San Francisco Chronicle on Monkey King
I. Review: S.F. Opera’s ‘The Monkey King’ delivers a brilliant fusion of East, West and wow
By Joshua Kosman, Retired Classical Music Critic Nov 15, 2025
“San Francisco Opera’s most thrillingly inventive offerings in decades.”
“The stage is a riot of color and movement“
“The sets move around as kinetically as the live performers“
II. Behind the scenes: S.F. Opera’s ‘The Monkey King’ brings Chinese myth and modern artistry to American opera
By Yoshi Kato, Contributor
”the extraordinary star-making debut in the title role by Australian Chinese tenor Kang Wang”
”the skillful debut of conductor Carolyn Kuan”
”But while the Monkey King may be a comedic trickster, for Hwang his humor carries a deeper truth about identity and defiance… The fact that he has been so beloved for so many generations suggests that he kind of represents, maybe, the Chinese Id. Yes, he must learn discipline by the end, but he is beloved for the degree to which he is rebellious.”
”the extraordinary dancer Huiwang Zhang”
“The Monkey King is uplifted by a cast of Asian heritage. Most of the creative team are also from the Asian diaspora, including Chinese American conductor Carolyn Kuan, Chinese American choreographer Ann Yee and Peking operatic dance specialist Jamie Guan.”
III. Inside S.F. Opera’s dazzling new ‘Monkey King’ with puppeteer Basil Twist
By Tony Bravo, Arts & Culture
“The Sun Wukong puppet requires three members of the movement ensemble to operate it, allowing him to dance, climb and fly. Twist calls the Monkey King “the overlap of many departments” as a prop, a costumed element and performer. There’s one primary puppet for the character, and an additional figure on a pole for a swimming scene. ”
”One of the opera’s most commented upon moments was a scene where Sun Wukong releases the horses of heaven, represented by life-size pole mounted puppets by Twist draped in white with equine heads, their bodies suggested by flowing fabric. ”
”Yavich, the costume designer, looked back to China’s bronze age for design inspiration, particularly the silhouettes.
Her main inspiration for the Sun Wukong was that he feels modern, underdog, and street. ”
”The costumes’ cosmic neon colors feel pulled from the future, with iridescent fabrics catching the light. ”
”One of the most notable stage design features in “The Monkey King” is the use of fabric to create different worlds and set pieces.
“The fabric is a giant paint canvas that keeps morphing onto which color is projected on it,” said Twist. “That’s part of the transformative aspects of the scenery. ”