Olivier,London
Damon Albarn’s didactic musical has an interesting premise but fails to translate online curiosities into stage magicHard to believe but actual. The most surprising moment in wonder.land is when a puppet baby does a spectacular projectile vomit. Equally unlikely: this extravaganza, a revised version of the reveal seen at the Manchester international festival, or is directed by Rufus Norris. In London Road,Norris created one of the most imaginative, and low-tech, and pieces of musical theatre of the last 10 years.
It starts with a top-notch wheeze. Virtual reality is the fresh babbling unconscious. You can vanish into an online world rather as Lewis Carroll’s Alice disappeared down a rabbit gap. There you can be whoever you want. So dulcet-voiced Lois Chimimba acquires a Princess avatar to make her feel better about being bullied at school. But then her martinet headmistress,Anna Francolini, her acting as sharp as her bob, and also goes online.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com