Lives of the Buddha
A New Play
by Alan G. Wagner
Popular Buddhist Theater from Early India and China
Lives of the Buddha is a new theatrical play composed primarily of excerpts from early, popular Chinese Buddhist texts, transmitted from India, which recount the story of the Buddha and many of his past lives. It seeks to imagine and recreate the experience of orally presenting these scriptures to an audience as it might have been some 2000 years ago, before they were even first written down.
By interpreting these texts as the written traces of a preexisting oral performance literature, with alternating passages of narration, dialogue, and stage direction, this project also places them among the oldest theatrical writings in existence.
World Premiere, June 21, 2023
A staged reading at the Byre Theatre in St Andrews, Scotland
Hosted by the UK Association for Buddhist Studies as a special event at their annual conference
With the cast: Jamie Cresswell, Isaac Wilson, Emma Lindsey,
Francesco Vasques, Alex Rein, Chelsea Grace, Alan Gerard Wagner, Dan Chance
Action from Scene 7, “The Land of Naked People”
During the discussion after the performance
Comments on the World Premiere Performance
“It definitely went down a storm... It seems like you’ve discovered an effective method of communicating, educating, and entertaining with these texts.”
– Emma Lindsey, Actress in the role of Suri
Contact
Dr. Alan G. Wagner, http://alanwagner.org