Led by Ghaffar Pourazar, an Iranian-born, British-raised former computer animator, the Chinese epic will run until August 27.

“The troupe has given many successful performances of the show in countries around the world,” Mohammad Atebbaii, an official of the Center for Dramatic Arts, told the Persian service of CHN on Saturday.

The first non-Chinese member of the Beijing Opera, Pourazar will play the role of the Monkey King, who is the main character in the classical Chinese epic novel, “Journey to the West”.

The opera displays a mix of singing, acting, acrobatics, and martial arts.

“The Monkey King”, which is also known to the Chinese as “Journey to the West”, was written by Wu Cheng-en (1500?-1582).

It is a renowned classical Chinese novel featuring an allegorical version of a journey to the West, mingled with Chinese fables, fairy tales, legends, superstitions, popular beliefs, monster stories as well as traditions from the Taoist and Buddhist religions.