Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the artists behind multi-platinum animated band Gorillaz have been approached to compose and design the musical, โ€œMonkey: Journey to the West.โ€

Based on a classic from Chinese literature, dating back to 1592, it concerns

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itself with the Monkey King, a beloved character in the canon.

Albarn said he and Hewlett are honoured to be involved, calling it โ€œโ€ฆthe

original adventure story, but its thousands of years old; thatโ€™s what really

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drew us to it.โ€

He added โ€œWe went to China and travelled to get a picture of what China is like now and combine that with an ancient, classic China.โ€

Conceived and directed by Chen Shi-Zheng, a renowned theatre, opera and film director, with the desire of retelling the story of Monkey, who โ€œโ€ฆmanages to smite demons and defeat fiends with his superior kung fu skillsโ€ฆto gain the ultimate prize for himself, the attainment of Buddhahoodโ€.

The production performed in Mandarin promises circus acrobats, Shaolin

martial arts and Chinese singers performing Damon Albarnโ€™s debut operatic score, utilising Western and traditional Chinese instruments within an orchestra of thirty musicians from around the world.

Artist Hewlett was tasked with creating a visual universe, including

cacophony of characters from Spider Maidens to Skeleton Demons, which is

currently being constructed in Beijing, Paris, Berlin and London.

โ€œMonkey: Journey to the Westโ€ will launch the inaugural Manchester

International Festival at the Palace Theatre on June 28.

For further details on the event visit manchesterinternational.com here