“There was a rock that, one day, became magically pregnant. Eventually it split open giving birth to a stone monkey. The nature of monkey was irrepressible!”

The story of Monkey, here adapted by OTG’s own Daniel G. Cambridge, comes originally from one of Chinese literature’s greatest works - Journey to the West, by Wu Cheng’en. Since an abridged translation in 1942 by Arthur Waley, Monkey has been adapted time and again by Western audiences keen to capture a bit of that old Monkey magic for themselves. Monkey was, perhaps most famously to Western viewers, released as a TV series between 1978-80, and has become a true cult classic from the period for its catchy theme tune, magical martial arts sequences and ridiculous storylines. Our adaptation was taken from the original novel itself, with a sprinkling of the TV show thrown in for good measure.