Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

The Monkey and the Crab

The Monkey and the Crab was a Pop-up Performance for families, that I co-wrote and directed with performer, You-Ri Yamanaka. It took place in the Japan gallery, at the V&A South Kensington, as part of the regular weekend programme for families. It was in repertoire 2017-2019. It was also performed at the Horniman Museum, in April 2019.

It was a 30 minute, interactive storytelling of a traditional Japanese tale, about a cheeky monkey (of course!), a baby crab and its friends. In the original it is a tale of revenge, but it our version it was about bullying and forgiveness. Youri told the story using traditional Japanese Kabuki movement and techniques. This included folding a towel (more like a tea towel than a bath towel) to create shapes to make the characters and objects, in the story, come to life. At the end of the performance, families were invited to play with towels, in the Kabuki style, and create characters and props of their own. 

There is a link below to a short video about the making of The Monkey and the Crab,  by film-maker, Rick Mitra. 

The photograph, above, is © Victoria and Albert Museum.