At the core of this piece is an inspired idea. An Alice for the internet generation. Apparently substantially rewritten since its Manchester International Festival debut it still isn’t finished though.
Aly’s parents have split. She lives with her mum and baby brother and misses her dad. School is shit. She’s got cyber-bullies on her back. Then she discovers a virtual reality world in wonder.land and with her new avatar she enters it and meets her alter ego Alice and the rest of Lewis Carroll’s cast. Until, that is, school headmistress Ms Manxome confiscates her smart phone, steals her avatar and plays a darker game in wonder.land.
The music is OK, but not great, as if Damon Albarn hasn’t really found his musical theatre voice (his last two music theatre works were billed as operas). There’s a ‘look’ but its a bit obvious – shades of grey in the real world, with a multi-coloured wonder.land. There’s also no cohesive style to the staging; it’s a bit all over the place. The projections are good, though.
Anna Francolini makes a good baddie, but it’s a panto villain nonetheless. Carley Bawden is uncannily her double as Alice. Lois Chimimba is a sweet Aly and Enyi Okoronkwo cute as her friend Luke. Hal Fowler is a larger than life presence as the MC (Cheshire Cat / Caterpillar). Above all, I liked Paul Hilton’s dad, though his role in the tea party scene suggests he may not get through the run without breaking a bone or two.
It’s still in preview, but I saw the 6th of 7 previews, so it’s hard to see how they can improve it enough by the press night to get a better reception than V.1 got in Manchester. I have a soft spot for polymath Damon Albarn, but I enjoyed this a lot less than Monkey or Dr. Dee, I’m afraid.
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