The magnitude of this production is apparent from the first moment. The cast is enormous, the set reaching up into the flies of Sadlers Wells. And after a bit of actor work pre-show on stage, the show starts with a bang. An adaptation of the Doctor Faustus story, but updated to reckon with time travel, nostalgia, history, repeating patterns, and the evils of capitalism and the environment, the story sprawls yet is never boring. In some ways it felt like Murakami novel, jumping in space and time, characters remaining themselves yet different, patterns repeating and echoes lilting through time.
The performers were exquisite in their physical work, both individually and moving as a collective, with the root of this work being deeply physical. The ability of the company to create spaces and imaginary interactions was visually stunning, and extremely engaging.
Beyond the performance itself, the images of which will stick with me for some time, I was fascinated by the audience response. Promoted to Sadlers Wells audiences but clearly a play and not a dance show, and running at 220 minutes without an interval, it was astounding to see the audience’s interaction. Some were enraptured. Some shifted, looked at their phones (even took photos?) while even more left. I was sat in the circle, and I would wager at least 30 people in that section alone left during the course of the production. It made me wonder about things; our attention span, our willingness to engage with stories that are not linear but indeed are circular and time jumping. Our ability to engage with work that doesn’t look or behave the way we expect it to.
Suffice it to say, i was enraptured, and will continue to follow the Noda Map company and their exceptional, challenging, and innovative work.