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Chinese opera is not a genre we know well in the West. And while this wasn't your average Palace crowd, this still took some following.

But this ain't your average show. A track-suited monkey with an itchy crotch and a Manc scally swagger certainly lends a new dimension to this ancient Chinese legend.

Add 40 other Chinese acrobats, set it to the music of Damon Albarn and animation by Gorillaz creator Jamie Hewlett, and it certainly fits the Festival’s new and original ticket.

Baffled

I’ll be honest. I spent the first half hour totally baffled, desperately chasing the fleeting subtitles to get a fix on the plot (Note to the subtitle operator: time to read them is kind of crucial).

Buddha Mountain

It's like arriving to a party sober - it didn't make much sense. Literal translations of the Mandarin such as: 'Thus form is emptiness,' were beginning to take on a darkly cynical meaning.

You just have to go with it, I guess and get drunk on the spectacle. So, when 'This iron rod can hold up my crystal palace,' appeared on the subtitles, I was half cut. And by the time we reached: 'To firmly restrain both ape and horse,' it didn't matter anymore.

Feast

Visually, Monkey is sumptuous. The sets are vibrant and rich. The performers move/ fly elegantly across the stage and the martial arts fight scenes are breathtaking.

Maybe it’s nostalgia for Pigsy and co in the 70s TV series, but the fight scenes really blew me away, especially with the slick wire work that sends Monkey somersaulting through the air. Albarn’s Oriental music with a Blur twist kind of works. And I liked Hewlett’s animation and design.

Spider Woman

Problem is, with a running time of two hours with no interval, there were times when Monkey was hard going, fumbling for some kind of narrative. And for such a big production, it ends weakly.

MaybeÌý the idea was to ape the Chinese legend – it certainly mocks the Gods of received theatre, and carries the banner of new work boldly for the Festival.Ìý

A work of fantasy, it’s not everyone’s cup of green tea, and by the end, I'm not sure I'd reached enlightenment. But Monkey nuts - it certainly is.