The Sum of Its Parts

Classical Partners, like most businesses, was closed over the Christmas period. However, this did not stop us going to wonderful live performances. We took the family to Monkey: Journey to the West at the specially made tent next to the O2. Our children unfortunately don’t do opera. They prefer the instant hit of pop music and like many youngsters these days the thought of sitting still for a couple of hours is beyond them. I had to sell the connection with Gorillaz and the fact that it was composed by Blur frontman Damon Albarn in order to get them to come along for a their Christmas treat.
I think that it is wonderful what they have done with the Dome, it is now a great venue. I wanted to arrive by riverboat but I am now glad I was talked out of this as it was a really cold day.
The show itself was nothing short of spectacular. The opera is sung wholly in Mandarin with a Chinese cast. The orchestra are heavily augmented with Chinese instruments so it took me a little while to get my ear tuned in, but there are one or two nice arias, I particularly liked the Spider Woman. But this is not really the point as Monkey is a total experience. There is so much happening on stage that I completely ignored the surtitles. The fight scenes are wonderfully produced with the main characters flying through the air. Acrobats and dancers fill the stage and the projected animations are stunning and interact superbly with the live action. The final scene with plate spinners making beautiful floral patterns leaves you wanting more.All in all this is a case of the whole being much more than the sum of its parts. I would not normally want to go to a Chinese circus but would happily go to see Monkey again.

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