Esplanade - Postcards to / from the Moon

SYNOPSIS

Do You Know that there are four stories of the Mid-Autumn Festival?

In one story, Lady Chang Er drank the elixir of life in order to save the people from her husband's tyrannical rule and flew to the moon. In another, Wu Kang was banished to the Moon Palace by his master to chop down a huge cassia tree after he was impatient with this trainng to become an immortal.

The third legend tells of a rabbit which sacrificed itself in order to provide food for three fairy sages who were disguised as old men. The sages were so touched by the rabbit’s act of kindness that they let him live in the Moon Palace where he became the ‘Jade Rabbit’.

And the last legend dates back to the Yuan dynasty (A.D.1280-1368), when China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D.960-1280) ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon cake was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644). Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend.

Esplanade also celebrates the Mid-Autumn festival annually with Moonfest and this year, Moonfest coincides with Octoburst! for the first time! To mark the occasion, we created a series of arts workshops themed “Postcards to/from the Moon” and worked with like-minded sponsors to invite over 230 children from 10 voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) to participate in the activity held earlier in June and August.

Customising each workshop to suit the needs of the different groups, our artists encouraged the children to use their creativity and imagine they were having a conversation with the moon. Based on this “dialogue”, the children created interesting works of art using different types of recycled materials. Staff volunteers from our sponsor companies also spent meaningful time with some of these children’s groups as they guided them along during the workshops. The works created from this project will be displayed at Jendela, Esplanade’s visual arts gallery, during Octoburst! and the children will also be invited to Esplanade to view their creations during the festival.

So come and join these little artists and spend an enchanting afternoon learning more about their conversations with the moon this Children's Day!

ADVISORY

General Late Seating Advisory

You are strongly advised to be seated 15 minutes before the performance start time.
No admission will be allowed into the venue once the performance has commenced.
Exceptions may be made at Esplanade's discretion depending on the nature of the performance.

Tickets sold through SISTIC Website, Hotline and Outlets.

IMPORTANT NOTICE
For the enjoyment of all audience members, all events start promptly at the time printed on the ticket. Please be seated 15 minutes before the performance start-time. Entry for latecomers and re-admission will not be permitted until the first appropriate pause in the programme or intermission, if any.

Patrons are advised that with effect from 12 March 2004, an administrative fee of $5 per ticket is payable for all Replacement Tickets issued.

Please note the following conditions: - Replacement Tickets can only be issued for performances with reserved seating.
- No Replacement Ticket will be issued for general admission or 'free seating' performances.
- Replacement Tickets are issued subject to verification of patron's details against our transaction records.
- Esplanade reserves the right to not issue a Replacement Ticket if we are not able to verify the claim.