Multi-award-winning and talented Cheeyang Ng invites the audience into their world, using these myths to examine identity, family and belonging, answering modern questions by blending Chinese mythology, memory and queer legacy in this ritual musical.

This is not so much a journey or rite of passage as an event, cleverly putting classical myths alongside Ng’s own story. Through communal song and the retelling of these ancestral stories, they explore their relationship with family, tradition and the stories that have formed them, but never quite reflected them. There are obvious parallels with Ng’s own identity, but the clever thing is how relatable it all becomes. This is a queer story, but the questions it asks about who we are, where we come from, and the expectations placed upon us feel universal.

But Ng doesn’t need much to create something much bigger. The songs are beautifully constructed, occasionally shading into Sondheim’s more well-known output and Jonathan Larson’s staccato constructs, but when performed by Ng, they become something else entirely. There is a practically otherworldly, spiritual quality to the show, helped by the simplicity of the staging and the sheer presence of Ng, with the audience front and to the side, as she literally conducts them in three-part harmonies and dialogue.

Singer-songwriter Ng is already a talent known by the cool few, but Legendary feels like the show that could push them into a much wider orbit. A queer-affirming Six(ish) journey powered by one performer, it has the same sense of discovery that feels innovative and stimulating. It’s funny, emotional, hits hard, and it’s relatable to a young audience.