"Many thousands of years ago, when the night was weaving her tapestry of stars over the sacred land of Tibet, Mantao, the jester-king, was born in a lotus flower." Exciting, gripping and hilarious “Mantao the Jester King” is a beguiling fable with a strong allegorical theme. With a host of colourful characters such as the Man with the Elephant Ears, the wicked Princess Amaranth, Hanu the Monkey (not to mention Mantao himself), it made for a wonderfully vibrant stage production and charmed literally everyone who saw it!

Barons Court Theatre - September 2009
	Directed by Connie Stephens ... ... ... ... Produced by Barbara Fairall & Connie Stephens ... ... ... ... Stage Manager - Richard Everett

The Cast Mantao the Jester King - Costa Chard ... The Mendicant Monk/The Man with the Elephant Ears/Mantao's Father/The Minister - James Kingdon ... The Queen of the Distant Lands/Princess Amaranth - Emma Kedge ... The Plague/The Angel/Hanu the Monkey - Rose van Hooff ... Mantao's Mother/Myramar the Dancer - Joanna O'Connor

“Animals have their tragic and their comic side, and resemble us in many ways. They, too, have their distinctions and individualities. Many people believe that there is a huge gap separating them from the animals, but it is only really a step in the Wheel of Life, for we are all children of the One. To understand a fellow creature, we must regard him as a brother.” MANFRED KYBER was born in Riga, Latvia in 1880. The son of a landowner, he studied philosophy at Leipzig and then worked as a publisher, literary critic and lecturer, initially in Berlin. Kyber later moved to Switzerland and then to south Germany. He died in 1933 at Löwenstein in Baden-Württemberg, and there is a small museum in that town dedicated to his life and work. Among Kyber’s publications are many short stories, one novel, collections of lyric poetry and polemical non-fiction. He was a deeply spiritual person and his writings have two interrelated themes. One is the lack of a spiritual dimension in contemporary Western society, and the other is man’s alienation from the natural world and from the animal kingdom in particular. Kyber’s work addresses themes of universal importance with great compassion and gentle humour.

Translator's Note by Barbara Fairall Manfred Kyber became known and loved for his unique style in 'Animal Tales' - that was the title of his first book of stories when they were published in the early 1930s. Strangely enough, the stories were first published in the German Language edition of a monthly magazine called 'The Rosicrutian' which came from Oceanside, California. My mother who had always been interested in anything 'spiritual', was captured by Kyber's way of seeing animals and at times even inanimate objects as living individuals - similar to a child looking at dolls as living beings - endowing animals and sometimes even inanimate objects with 'a soul', a very individual inner life. A life which seemed to be almost predestined from birth by 'a chain of events' as Kyber calls it, namely for you yourself as an individual to be intimately linked with a particular human or an animal or even a certain inanimate object. This way of looking at life has always been my way of looking at life. Follow the chain of events, take the threads as they arise – remember that the body, the physical carrier of one’s existence, will not always exist in the same way. Never let fear dictate which paths you choose. I'm extremely grateful for the enchanting friends I have got now. I have found them without even looking for them. - thanks to a chain of mysterious events.

It is a hard and lonely road that you must take. Yours is a large, strong soul to which others will cling. You will bear not only your own burden, but the burdens of others and you will hold a protective shield over every living thing. Rose van Hooff as The Guardian Angel

All things are curiously joined to one another, joined to you by fine threads as if they belonged to you, but are yet separate from you again, for you are being rocked in the cup of the lotus and are looking at it all with eyes that have become timeless. Rose van Hooff as The Plague and Joanna O'Connor as Mantao's Mother

Since I have had these ears I have been able to hear all manner of wondrous things, such as the seed of a plant breaking open its husk in the bosom of the earth; or the very moment when affection in the heart of a human being blossoms into love. James Kingdon as The Man with the Elephant Ears

I am you, even though I am now separated from you. Look, my white limbs are made from your thoughts, my garments are worked from your good deeds, and all the love and longing which live in you, are my diadem. I am you, and the time will come when you will be fully united with me. Emma Kedge as The Queen of the Distant Lands and Costa Chard as Mantao

Then we must each learn to light our lamps once more, not with the gaudy light of fickle passions but with deep beauty, truth and self-awareness, with the sustaining light of the Exalted One. Costa Chard as Mantao and Joanna O'Connor as Myramar the Dancer

A little monkey is your companion; people will laugh at you now and call you a jester because you carry a shield and a sword and have a monkey for a companion. Let them laugh! You are a King! And you are greater than all their kings, Mantao, my jester-king. Rose van Hooff as Hanu the Monkey and Costa Chard as Mantao

Terrible things happen to people in this world, my little dancer, and it takes immense courage to overcome them, to step out onto the highway of life once more in full awareness of what may befall you. Rose van Hooff as Hanu, Joanna O'Connor as Myramar and Costa Chard as Mantao

Mantao! Your utter fool! I know that name. It is the name of legend and prophecy. He is no jester! He is a king and I shall receive him with regal honours. The most splendid of my knights shall invite him to my throne. Emma Kedge as Princess Amaranth and James Kingdon as The Minister

May the Exalted One bless you, and may he bless the paths of all those for whom you went down to earth. Mankind, animals and all life. Rose van Hooff as Hanu and Costa Chard as Mantao