Is it an opera, a musical or what? There is dancing, so it seems fair to include this topic, especially in the context of the future of Sadler's Wells:
The Temptation of St Anthony By Lyn Gardner for The Guardian
Has Robert Wilson been spending time at The Lion King? You certainly wonder, such is the amazing similarity of the opening sequence of his latest show to the Broadway and West End hit musical. Hand-held skeletal birds on long poles are carried up the aisles and through the audience and on to the stage where the third century hermit, St Anthony, is having a hard time pondering the nature of life and belief.
It is not just the puppetry that turns out to owe something to Disney. The message is sweetly bland too: that the world is a big place and we can all live in harmony if we only respect the diversity of each other's beliefs. It's a nice thought, but it doesn't make for very exciting theatre, unless you enjoy watching the lighting designer having a really good time and using every colour in the palette.
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Not a tempting prospect By Robert Thickness for The Times
FIRST the good news: it seems that you can’t fool all the people all the time, notwithstanding telly and Tony Baloney. Having received nothing but awed reverence in Germany, where it was premiered in June, this collaboration between the 1970s cult director Robert Wilson and the civil rights activist Bernice Johnson Reagon was handed the politest, coolest, least-willing round of applause it has ever been my pleasure to hear at a London first night. If this is the kind of thing we are to expect as Sadler’s Wells plunges once again into the world of music theatre, then God help them — and us.
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