What's the Verdict?

03/07/07

Today, I grab hold of some people who were lucky enough to get ino last night's sell-out event and highlight of the festival, Monkey -Journey To The West.

Claire and Richard, both 25, are an illustrator and graphic designer who live in Manchester. They're having a quick drink after seeing the spectacular circus / martial arts / fairy tale / opera Monkey - Journey To The West at the Palace Theatre.

“I loved it,” says Claire. “I thought it was the best thing in the world. I named 2007 the year of the musical but this is like nothing I have ever seen before.

“The acrobats were amazing. There were loads of things you don't even think are possible. How can you choreograph something like that? They're impossible things, so how could you ask people to do them? I don't understand how they did it, but it was brilliant.

“It was sensational,” agrees Richard.

“And you liked the Spider women, didn't you?” laughs Claire.

“I did like the Spider women, yes,” he admits with a grin.

The festival's focus on innovative, newly commissioned work is, says Richard, “bang on; Manchester's always gone its own way rather than just following London or wherever. We've always got off our backsides and sorted ourselves out, in a lot of respects.

“This is just another way of doing that, I think.”