Dr Dee – London Coliseum

Kim and I went on a “proper” Saturday night out in London, dressing up fancy and heading to the glorious London Coliseum (home of the English National Opera) to see the final performance of Damon Albarn’s ‘Dr Dee’.
I’ve only been to a handful of live theatre productions (including Albarn’s previous operatic effort 'Monkey' as part of the Manchester Festival) but we both found this show to be absolutely spell-binding.
It started with a live raven flying from the back of the theatre to the stage, then a procession of English archetypes (a punk, businessman, cricketer) slowly marched across stage – literally falling out of time – to transport us back to 1500s and the life of “renaissance man” John Dee – from his search for knowledge, to his eventual downfall as he pushed into the realms of dark magic and trying to document communication with angels.
The production featured Albarn onstage in a raised platform with a small group playing a mix of Elizabethan instruments (lute, recorder, dulcian) and African instruments (kora, and erstwhile Albarn accompanist drummer Tony Allen). They were accompanied by a full orchestra and conductor in the pit below.
Albarn also sang many songs during the production – most notably “Marvelous Dream” during an incredibly staged dance, taking place under Queen Elizabeth I’s gown (see above)
The lead role of Dr Dee was played brilliantly by Paul Hilton (who coincidently Kim and I previously saw on stage in the dark comedy ‘All New People’) who’s singing voice is very reminiscent of Albarn. As Kim pointed out – Damon himself seems to be signing better than he ever has.
All in all a fantastic evening.