In 1985 Wham! caused widespread bemusement by becoming the first western pop group to perform in China. Twenty years on, the Chinese return the compliment by sending the National Beijing Opera Company on its first ever British tour.
Judging from the tepid response from a sparse crowd, it seems we are no better prepared for a stately parade of Song Dynasty aristocrats than the Chinese were for a couple of grinning English boys with shuttlecocks down their shorts.
It's a pity that the arrival of one of the world's most dignified ensembles should prove to be such a muted affair. While it's true that the finer nuances of the art are rarefied almost beyond comprehension, Beijing Opera also has its broad, vulgar side rooted in popular entertainment - it's telling that when Mei Lanfang, the founder of this troupe, visited Russia in the 1930s he was feted by Stanislavski, while in America he was courted by Charlie Chaplin.
The Forest of Wild Boars, the first piece of rotating repertoire throughout the tour, is based on an 800-year-old story in which an honourable military commander is framed and sent into exile. The dialogue, delivered in speech that approximates singing and singing that sounds remarkably like speech, is confined within a very narrow, jarring frequency range that, to the untrained ear, gradually acquires the timbre of incessant drilling.
Yet true artistry becomes evident in any language, and the company's remarkable leader, Yu Kuizhi (the biggest box office draw in Beijing), maintains a seraphic, trance-like intensity throughout. The story may suffer its longueurs, but it's worth holding out for the point where he defeats an entire army with his sleeves.
Beijing Opera is undoubtedly an acquired taste - one only hopes that more people show willing to acquire it.
· Ends tomorrow. Box office: 0870 787 5793. Then touring.
