wonder.land review: Damon Albarn's dazzling dive into the surreal lacks satisfying tunes

This deranged musical feels cluttered, confused and overstuffed, says Henry Hitchings
Online avatar: Carly Bawden as Alice
Alastair Muir
Henry Hitchings11 December 2015

On the posters for this deranged musical, loosely based on the story of Alice in Wonderland, there’s a magenta Cheshire cat that looks as if it has just consumed a cartload of amphetamines.

It’s a fair representation of a show that’s billed as “Alice for the online generation” and certainly manages to seem miles away from quaint Victoriana. Boasting a score by Damon Albarn, it premiered at the Manchester International Festival five months ago, has since been rejigged, and still feels cluttered and confused.

The main character is Aly (Lois Chimimba), a teenager whose home life is unsettled. Her father adores gambling, and her mother is preoccupied with her baby Charlie — a puppet that despite vomiting enthusiastically inspires a song with the title Everyone Loves Charlie, a druggy pun that gets fatally overstretched.

Fleeing bullies and monotonous schoolwork, Aly enters an exotic online world. She embraces avatar Alice (Carly Bawden) and discovers an array of odd creatures. Their strangeness is brought to life with flair in Rufus Norris’s production, which features splashy projections by 59 Productions and bold costumes by Katrina Lindsay.

The dormouse is the size of a London taxi, the caterpillar is a conga line of glitter balls, the dodo is a hapless bodybuilder, and the frenetic white rabbit appears to be a refugee from Daft Punk. But the real star is Ms Manxome, Aly’s headmistress, who confiscates her phone and steals her identity. Vividly played by Anna Francolini, she’s a shockingly destructive figure.

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1/50

If only her verve had been contagious. Moira Buffini’s script is predictable, preaching the need for self-acceptance, but Albarn’s music is a bigger problem. Though it flirts with Cockney knees-up anthems, plaintive ballads and jarring bleeps, it’s mostly just bland.

So is this bizarre homage to Lewis Carroll a Christmas turkey? Not quite, but it does feel overstuffed.

While the show’s dazzle and visual inventiveness are beyond dispute, they can’t make up for the absence of satisfying tunes.

Until April 30, National Theatre (Olivier) (020 7452 3000, nationaltheatre.org.uk) Buy tickets for wonder.land.

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