Hwang (M. Butterfly, Flower Drum Song) adapts the true story novelized by Peter Sís about his documentary filmmaking father's journey to China in the 1950's. On an assignment to chronicle the building of a highway into Tibet, the father gets lost in the snowy mountains of the Asian land when he encounters a young boy who leads him to Potala, the Buddhist palace where the Dalai Lama lives. "Sís' book examines a son's struggle to both connect to and separate from his father, transforming this journey into a wild and gorgeous feast for the imagination," stated Hwang in a release. "His book testifies to the power of art and creativity to overcome physical and emotional barriers, to bridge cultures and distances. In the face of unbelievable pressures to abandon their heritage, Tibetans struggle both to retain their past and to redefine and reinvent it for the modern world."

Director Francesca Zambello stages the work with a cast that includes Peter Crook as Father, Tsering Dorjee as a musician, Tommy Fleming as Peter, Richard Lopez in the ensemble, Marianne Owen as Mother, Randy Reyes as Jangmu and Jingle-Bell Boy, Phuntsok Tsering as a musician, Karma Wangdu as a musician, Amy Waschke in the ensemble, Joe Yang in the ensemble, and Timothy Hyland, Alex Murray and Chris Laxamana as understudies.

The design team includes Carey Wong (set), Jan Hartley (projections), Mark McCullough (lighting), Chris R. Walker (sound) and Anita Yavich (costume). Tenzin Chodak serves as cultural advisor for the production.

Tickets to Tibet Through the Red Box at the Charlotte Martin Theatre in the Seattle Center, call (206) 441-3322 or visit www.sct.org.