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Left - (l-r) Jonathan Johansson (behind screen) and Agnete Beierholm. Cover - Alexandre Bourdat. Photos - Claudi Thyrrestrup

I have been reviewing theatre for over two years now. During that time I have tried my upmost to be constructively critical and have struggled, often in the most adverse of conditions, to discuss work in an intelligent and diplomatic manner.

I have refrained from writing in the first person, choosing instead the collective ‘we’ or the distancing and universal ‘one’ in order to place the work foremost and to prevent my persona from overwhelming what should ultimately be an objective analysis.

But last night marked the end of my objectivity. And in its place I now welcome rage.

Tomorrow in a Year is the collaboration between Danish performance collective Hotel Pro Forma and Swedish electro pop duo The Knife. It is based on Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species and is billed as a ground breaking contemporary opera.

In actuality, Tomorrow in a Year is a meandering, unfocussed and frustrating work that fails to change gear throughout the entire one hour and twenty minute performance. The unimaginative staging, lack of choreographic development, as well as the completely indecipherable narrative thread ensured the exiting audience were charged with that special kind of bewildered, almost bemused anger that is reserved for the truly awful.

The work opens with Mezzo Soprano Kristina Wahlin wandering onstage in a regal red dress, looking somewhat confused as to what she’s doing there. I soon became equally confused, as she had no interaction or relation to the other ‘characters’ - except to slowly and significantly pass a green laser pointer back and forth.

The six ensemble dancers move around her, twitching and shifting with small bird-like movements, intended to represent an organism evolving and genes replicating themselves. This oft-repeated and underdeveloped choreographic device became interminably tiresome over the course of the next hour - but at least served as a visual counterpoint to the comically obtuse operatic score.

That said, there were several striking projections and some effective dry ice work. The songs in the second half were more interesting and aurally complex but the repetitive staging constantly undermined this, as the performers moved around the set with little consideration to their relation to the audience or to each other. And I might be missing some crushingly obvious intellectual reference here, but what does a surfboard in a scissor lift have to do with the theory of evolution?

I’m all for absurd, experimental and challenging theatre. I also recognise the difficulty in combining disparate elements to create a cohesive and large scale theatrical installation. But given the huge amount of collaborators, festival supporters, presenting partners and contributing artists, Tomorrow in a Year gives true credence to the old adage of ‘A camel is a horse designed by a committee.’

I can’t help but wonder what a local company could have been capable of with even half the resources of this international monstrosity.


2010 Melbourne International Arts Festival presents
Tomorrow, in a year
Hotel Pro Forma

Venue: the Arts Centre, State Theatre
Dates: Wed 20 – Sat 23 Oct at 7.30pm
Duration: 1hr 20min no interval
Tickets: $110.50 - $25
Bookings: the Arts Centre 1300 182 183 | www.theartscentre.com.au | Ticketmaster 1300 723 038 | www.melbournefestival.com.au