I went to see it last night, and I must saw, I was very impressed!
The staging was very interesting - arranged in a cross shape, with everyone sitting around / within it (difficult to explain - just think of a big room full of people with a cross-shaped stage placed there so it fits in the middle / around them).
The characters were spot on - Monkey was especially good, played in the true spirit of the character, very mischievous. Tripitaka spoke just like Tripitaka in the TV show, Pigsy was his usual hoglike self, and Sandy was, well Sandy really!
There was loads of fighting, loads of comedy, and even some audience interaction, which the kids loved of course. The bit where everyone joined in "om mani padme um" was cool :)
My only criticism is that they referred to Tripitaka as a "she" throughout the whole show. Tripitaka was played by a woman just like in the TV show, but in the TV show, Tripitaka is always referred to as a "he".
In the books etc., Tripitaka is a boy priest.
I'm thinking that maybe this was a deliberate decision - maybe so as not to confuse the children?
Anyway, this aside, a truly wonderful production!
Some of the stories are recognisable from the TV show, and unlike the TV show, it includes the pilgrims getting to India, which was nice!
I'd recommend this show to anyone - unfortunately, it's sold out for the next week (until it finishes on 26th January) - you can only get tickets if there's returns. After this, it's going on a nationwide tour, so see if you can check it out then. More info on www.youngvic.org
Yes, I managed to go, sorry it has taken me so long to do a review. Had a great time. and really enjoyed it. Great to see the characters coming to life. Great stage, and sat right in front (very open stage) exciting when the fight scenes were going on. Pigsy character they had made into a very ugly persona. Much worse than the TV show. Loved the Monkey character, and I got a wink from the actor playing Sandy!! Fab show very entertaining. The death character had a large part, although I don't ever remember seeing this character in the TV show. Speaking of which I am going to buy a DVD player especially for when to new stories come out ond DVD - sad person I am
Dawn