wonder.land, a new musical inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, with music by Damon Albarn and book and lyrics by Moira Buffini, will feature in the first season at the National Theatre under new artistic director Rufus Norris.
The production will be directed by Norris in a co-production with Manchester International Festival; commissioned by Manchester International Festival, the National Theatre and the Théâtre du Châtelet. It will open at MIF with performances from 2 to 12 July (previews from 29 June), and then play at the Olivier Theatre in November for the winter season.
In 2016, wonder.land will visit the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The production will have set designs by Rae Smith, with projections by 59 Productions, costumes by Katrina Lindsay, lighting by Paule Constable, sound by Paul Arditti, choreography by Javier De Frutos and musical direction by David Shrubsole.
Aly, 12, loves this extraordinary virtual world. Bullied at school and unhappy at home, wonder.land lets her escape from her parents, from teachers, from herself.
Online, Aly becomes Alice: brave, beautiful and in control. But some of the people she meets – the weird Dum and Dee, the creepy Cheshire Cat, the terrifying Red Queen – seem strangely familiar. As hard as Aly tries to keep them apart, real life and wonder.land begin to collide in ever more curious and dangerous ways.
Damon Albarn is a Grammy and Brit Award-winning singer, songwriter, producer and composer. His first full-length opera composition, Monkey: Journey to the West, created in collaboration with Jamie Hewlett and Chen Shi Zheng, premiered at Manchester International Festival in 2007. His second opera Dr Dee, co-created with Rufus Norris, premiered at MIF in 2011.
Moira Buffini’s plays include Welcome to Thebes and Dinner for the National Theatre and A Vampire Story for NT Connections; Handbagged for the Tricycle Theatre/Vaudeville (Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre); Dying For It (adapted from Nikolai Erdman’s The Suicide) and Marianne Dreams (adapted from Catherine Storr’s book) for the Almeida Theatre; Loveplay for the RSC; and Silence for Birmingham Rep (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize).
Rufus Norris directed Dr Dee at Manchester International Festival in 2011 and at ENO in 2012.
Member booking for the MIF performances opens today, with public booking from 22 January. Booking for the NT run will open in April. The MIF press night is 2 July.
New chief executive Tessa Ross and director Rufus Norris said: “It’s with great pleasure and excitement that we present our first season at the National. The work we make over the coming years will strive to be as open, as diverse, as collaborative and as national as possible. We want to inspire artists and audiences to think in new ways, to constantly re-imagine the act of making theatre. This first season is just a beginning, but it contains the seeds of what is to come.
‘Thanks to our continuing partnership with Travelex, we’ll have over 100,000 tickets available at £15, and our building is more open and inviting than ever before. We hope there is something here for everyone, whether they’ve been to the National many times or are thinking about their first visit. We look forward to welcoming them all.”
* The feature film adaptation of London Road by Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork, directed by Rufus Norris, will be released in cinemas later this year. A Cuba Pictures/National Theatre production, the ensemble cast includes Olivia Colman and Tom Hardy alongside all the original members of the NT cast.
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