Writers: Ziqi Lin and Yi Tang
Director: Yi Tang
Strange, yet engaging, A Journey to the West follows a Chinese student coming to London, but despite the miles between the UK and home, he still can’t shake off the shackles that his parents have placed on him. Using dance, elements of Sichuan Opera and clowning, the storytelling is vivid if a little repetitive.
However, it begins with a myth as Yi Qu, carrying a masked puppet, relates the story from the original Journey to the West, a 16th-century Chinese novel. To those who don’t know the myth, its abbreviated account here may confuse, but it’s about a Buddhist monk, Tang Sanzang, who goes to the West to find ancient scriptures. On the mission, he meets the Monkey King. The West in the original is probably as far as India, but in this update, the West is London. However, both versions are concerned with the pursuit of self-knowledge.
In the present, Xiao Hua has done everything his parents have asked of him: good grades in science, after-school clubs. And now they want him to study in a British university. He has little option but to do as he’s told, especially when they make a point of showing him what they have sacrificed for his privileged childhood; literally the shirts off their back.
Xiao Hua is shy and nervous when he reaches passport control at Heathrow. When asked at what university he will be studying, he stammers “UFO” instead of UCL. Instead of gaining independence, the young man (a very expressive Yitong Fu in pink bloomers and inflatable plastic raincoat) finds himself still controlled by his parents (Yi Qu and Qi Chen). Perhaps things will change when he, like Sanzang, meets the Monkey King.
With a brilliant sound design by Hao Liu and some clever lighting choices by Sheron Luo, this story of loneliness and freedom is smoothly and imaginatively told. And, finally, very moving.
Runs until 30 July 2025
Camden Fringe runs until 24 August 2025
