West Yorkshire Playhouse is home to countless aerial antics during the next few weeks as performers bounce, spring and virtually fly through rehearsals for Monkey!

Described as a truly enlightening show for all the family, Monkey is a very modern hero – anarchic, impulsive, but above all else true to
his friends. Fast paced storytelling and high wire antics combine
in this hugely physical and visual show based on the Chinese
legend Journey to the West, better known in the UK through the cult Japanese TV incarnation shown by the BBC in the 1970s.

Monkey! features a cast of trapeze, rope and bungee artists, including Wendy Hesketh, a dancer and aerial harenss specialist who pioneered Bungee Assisted Dance.

By attaching herself to a bungee, Wendy is able to perform graceful ground-based dance movements, leaps and bounds that would be otherwise impossible.

The Monkey story is familiar to 1970s and 1980s television viewers who tuned in for its wacky special effects, costumes, characters and Japanese to English dubbing.

For this latest adaption, Colin Teevan has delved into the original Chinese myth and 16th century book Journey to the West.

Monkey! runs from June 14. For tickets call the West Yorkshire Playhouse box office on 0113 213 7700 or visit www.wyp.org.uk