Maddaddam ***
Wayne McGregor’s attempt to bring Maddaddam, Margaret Atwood’s dystopian trilogy, to the stage is less a ballet and more an overall theatrical experience. Never one to shy away from tackling challenging subjects – his Dante Project was inspired by Dante’s epic poem – McGregor’s piece is a three-act time-hopping journey to a bleak, unforgiving future.
Looking at a world which sees mankind all but destroyed through his own hubris, there are crackly voice-overs which attempt to explain the narrative; bloody film projections on a giant egg and some superb dancing along the way – but this will not appeal to audiences in search of the pretty and the palatable. Despite the extensive programme notes, it is often hard to work out exactly what is happening on stage, and the narration does not always help, but then McGregor has always demanded much of his audiences – this is no easy view.
