Commissioned by Manchester International Festival, National Theatre and the Théâtre du Châtelet, wonder.land is a new musical inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, with music by Damon Albarn and book and lyrics by Moira Buffini.
Directed by the National Theatre’s incoming director Rufus Norris, wonder.land will première in Manchester in July.
Aly, 12, is bullied at school and unhappy at home, but 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.
wonder.land is designed by Rae Smith, with projections by 59 Productions and lighting by Paule Constable, the design team behind War Horse.
Damon Albarn and Rufus Norris return to MIF after their acclaimed opera Dr Dee (MIF11, ENO 2012). Following its première at Manchester International Festival 2015, wonder.land will visit the NT’s Olivier Theatre in November 2015 and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 2016.