There was a half-stern, half-joking warning at the start of Mulan.

"These are all trained professionals," the voice-over boomed.

"Do not try any of these stunts at home."

There was a ripple of laughter in the audience at Hull New Theatre. None of us needed reminding.

Over the course of the evening, we saw Shaolin Warriors shatter metal bars over their heads and bend spears against their throats.

Then there was the eye-watering contortions – in which legs were wrapped behind necks, or limbs bent back on themselves.

This touring show, which runs at the theatre until Sunday, is a stunning mix of Chinese pageantry – with Lion Dances and martial arts – and an example of the limits to which the human body can be pushed.

The fact that there's a story at the centre of the show is almost by the by.

Introduced by the Monkey King and Pigsy – two characters from Chinese folklore – the production follows Mulan, the daughter of a Chinese Emperor.

This head-strong young woman was something of a feminist pioneer – more than a millennium before the term was even invented.

Rather than meekly bow to the demands of a society ruled by men, she follows her desire to join the circus and then, in disguise, becomes a famed warrior in her late father's army.

The retelling of this ancient Chinese yarn is little more than an excuse to rattle through a series of set-pieces.

And the appearance of the Monkey King and Pigsy between each scene falls flat. Intended as a comic distraction, their stilted mime to a pre-recorded voice-over – which gives Pigsy a bizarre half-Chinese, half-American accent – soon becomes tiresome.

But the real business of the show, the skills of the Chinese State Circus, sets the heart racing.

In one scene, an acrobat perched a vast tower of wooden stools – slotted together in a cross shape – on his head.

Then there was a troupe of female performers, perched on farcically high unicycles, who flipped steel bowls on to one another's heads while racing around the stage.

By the time a Shaolin Warrior – the sweat starting from his forehead – was hoisted aloft on the points of four spears, some of the audience were watching through their fingers.

It is, in a word, spectacular.

* Mulan is on at Hull New Theatre, Kingston Square, Hull, until Sunday. Performances tonight 5pm and 8pm; tomorrow, 2pm and 8pm; Sunday, 2pm and 5pm.

Tickets are £12-£27. Call (01482) 226655