--- --- # San Francisco Opera unveils The Monkey King  _This content was paid for and prepared by China Daily, an official publication of the People's Republic of China. The TIME editorial and advertising departments were not involved in the creation of this content._ Illustrations used to promote The Monkey King. By LIA ZHU The monkey king, one of the most beloved characters in Chinese literature, is set to make his Western operatic debut. The legendary figure from the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West will leap onto the stage of the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco in November, not only an artistic achievement but also a moment of cultural exchange between East and West. The production, commissioned by the San Francisco Opera in partnership with the Chinese Heritage Foundation of Minnesota, is the first opera to be sung in both English and Chinese. The opera’s premiere follows the company’s successful adaptation of another Chinese classic, Dream of the Red Chamber, which debuted in 2016 and toured China the following year to widespread acclaim. The Monkey King draws from the opening chapters of Journey to the West, focusing on the ambitious Sun Wukong, a monkey born from stone who then acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. The story follows his rise to become ruler of the monkeys and his audacious challenges to the gods of sea and heaven in his relentless quest for immortality. The narrative culminates with his rebellion against heaven, resulting in his imprisonment under a mountain by Buddha for 500 years — where he remains trapped until freed by the monk Tang Sanzang, setting the stage for the epic “journey to the west”. San Francisco Opera’s General Director Matthew Shilvock said this character will resonate deeply with U.S. audiences. “I think in America there will be a lot of resonance, because it’s an action hero story, and one with great depth behind it.” What makes this production particularly innovative is its blend of traditional Chinese and contemporary Western artistic elements. The opera combines classical operatic performances with puppetry, dance and elements of Peking Opera to create what Shilvock describes as “a complete feast for the senses” with “accessible and beautiful” music and “spectacular, playful and energetic” visuals. The opera’s composer Huang Ruo, who has long been interested in bringing the monkey king to the stage, found personal motivation in creating a Chinese superhero figure for Western audiences. Having observed his own children surrounded by Western superheroes such as Spider-Man and Batman, Huang saw an opportunity to introduce the monkey king as an alternative role model, not just for his children but for a broader audience as well. The creative team faced significant challenges in adapting this classic tale for the operatic stage. “It’s been very important to us that we do this as authentically as possible,” Shilvock said. “One of the important questions which we had to answer was that those first few chapters of Journey to the West that we are covering in the opera are all action. It’s just go, go, go, go, go.” This presented a fundamental challenge for the operatic form. “In the opera you want moments where you stand back and you take a pause and reflect, a chance to internalize and to have an emotional response,” Shilvock said. “So we knew we needed to find a way to achieve that in the opera.” The solution came from the composer Huang Ruo and the librettist David Henry Hwang, who incorporated six Buddhist sutras into the action. This innovative approach means that the monkey king’s adventures — from the depths of the sea to his epic battle with the gods in heaven — are balanced by moments of repose with the Goddess Guanyin and a chorus of Bodhisattvas reflecting on the monkey king’s progress in Buddhist sutras. “From the music to the visuals and then the set, I think we’re creating something very special coming to life,” Shilvock said. The new production builds on the success of the San Francisco Opera’s previous adaptation of a Chinese classic, Dream of the Red Chamber. After its 2016 world premiere in San Francisco, that production toured China in 2017, performing in Hong Kong, Beijing, Wuhan and Changsha to enthusiastic audiences. As The Monkey King prepares for its world premiere on Nov. 14, Shilvock sees it as part of a broader cultural exchange that strengthens bonds between nations. “I think it’s particularly exciting when you can have a piece that travels between countries and honors the cultural heritage of, in this case, China, and brings that to life in America,” Shilvock said. “I’m excited to see how pieces, like The Monkey King and Dream of the Red Chamber, not just have a presence there, but have that bond artistically as well.” San Francisco Opera unveils The Monkey King ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/san-francisco-opera-unveils-the-monkey-king/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/san-francisco-opera-unveils-the-monkey-king/"},"headline":"San Francisco Opera unveils The Monkey King","datePublished":"2026-06-18T14:27:53.090Z","dateModified":"2026-06-09T07:28:08.697Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/san-francisco-opera-unveils-the-monkey-king/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/san-francisco-opera-unveils-the-monkey-king/","name":"San Francisco Opera unveils The Monkey King"}}]}] ```