WOMAD

Serta-Gesar Troupe

From Tibet

With Damon Albarn's Chinese opera Monkey: Journey To The West premiering last month, Asian music-theatre is currently enjoying a higher profile in the UK than perhaps ever before. So it's a perfect time to welcome the Serta-Gesar Troupe from the vast Qinghai-Tibet plateau, some 4,500 metres up in the northern Himalayas and commonly known by every travel writer whose laid foot there as “the roof of the world”. Prolific as he is, Albarn still has some way to go to match the 30-strong troupe of actors, playwrights and directors who have in their career so far produced and staged eight Tibetan dramas, fusing traditional and modern-style performances that feature folk song, narrative, dancing, temple chants and even folk games. Established 20 years ago, the troupe began performing around the provinces of Tibet but have since gone on to appear on stages across China and around the world. Expect a dynamic and breathtaking performance full of colour, rhythm and life. And not a monkey in sight.