The Dr will see you now.
A few Saturday's ago I had a invite to see Dr Dee the new opera by Damon Albarn & Rufus Norris at the London Coliseum. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was brill. The set was incredible & the music was beautiful.
The show was all about John Dee's life. He was an Elizabethan mathematician, astrologer & courtier & he lived in a time before magic & science were separated so no one knew what was real & wasn't. He owned a huge collection of books which he kept in his home in Mortlake (the way the books were shown on stage was stunning (I don't want to ruin it in case anyone else sees it at some point)). Dee ended up meeting a fraudster called Edward Kelly who believed he could talk to angels through a crystal ball & became obsessed with the occult & ended up being deserted by family & friends right up until he died with just his daughter by his side.
Paul & I had heard mixed reviews of the show so went with open minds & I'm so glad I got a chance to see it. The show opened with birdsong & then a crow flew onto the stage, hopped about a bit then flew off. It was stunning. That's all I'm going to give away cos whatever I type won't do it justice. I was really impressed with how much Damon Albarn sang & played, he was there for pretty much the whole show & I wasn't really expecting him to be there at all so it was a great surprise!
I can't believe how short the run was of this show but if it ends up touring I'd definitely recommend going to see it. MIMO!
Ttfn x
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