UChicago Students Awarded at Wuzhen Theatre Festival

Sattva, a production co-created by students from the University of Chicago, won the Special Recognition Award at the 11th Wuzhen Theatre Festival. Among the team members of Sattva, two are from the University of Chicago: Yiwen WU, the director and playwright, and Aaron Yike HUANG, the composer and musician.  Yiwen is a current PhD candidate in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and the Committee on Theatre and Performance Studies.  Aaron graduated with honors in 2024 with a BA in Music and in East Asian Languages and Civilizations.  He is also winner of the Center for East Asian Studies 2024 BA Thesis Prize.

Sattva explores the intricate relationship between identities and the self. The story begins at a museum gallery: Annie encounters an image of Bodhisattva––one that is curiously created by a 13th century female artist using ink and her own hair. As Annie looks into the artwork in its finest details, the image starts to slowly come to life, revealing the story of its creator. As the exploration continues, Annie’s personal struggles as a young woman also start to unravel. It is through the animated image that Annie discovers new possibilities for herself. The production brings together traditional Chinese shadow performances and new animation technology, and the juxtaposition of these two media echoes the dialogue between the two women from different eras.   

The performance draws inspiration from another UChicago Alum’s work: Li Yuhang’s (Ph.D. The Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, The University of Chicago, 2011, now University of Wisconsin Madison’s tenured professor in art history) award-winning book Becoming Guanyin: Artistic Devotion of Buddhist Women in Late Imperial China (New York:Columbia University Press, 2020). Through animation, shadow play, and live performance, the play brings Li’s academic research to the stage, breathing life into the often forgotten women artists. 

Contributed by Yiwen Wu.