Tomorrow, In a Year

Tomorrow, In a Year was the epitome of synthesis. Labelling it as a ‘Darwin electro-opera’ didn’t do justice to the sheer number of genres that were so perfectly harmonised throughout the performance.

Commissioned by Danish theatre company Hotel Pro-Forma – The Knife, in collaboration with Mt Simms and Planningtorock, they created a gobsmacking musical score that pushed boundaries and created new possibilities in sound. The combination of music, performance, lighting and set design was bombastic and like nothing I have witnessed before.

As we took our seats in the Barbican theatre, the air of excited anticipation was palpable. Most people are acquainted with The Knife and their idiosyncratic musical style, but we were all about to be plunged into unfamiliar territory. As the lights went down the room was filled with a low trembling base – the kind that reaches into your chest and gives your heart a squeeze.

The curtain came up and slowly the characters made their presence known to us. The performers include an opera singer, a pop singer, an actor and six dancers. The disparate group were all presented as individuals and yet when they come together during the songs their skills were unimaginably complimentary.

The piece was loosely split into four parts. The first part focused on Darwin’s journey around the globe. A soprano in a striking red dress moved across the stage singing about epochs and rock beds. The music at this point was minimal in style with real and synthetic animal/bird noises, drips and warped feedback. Various projections lit up the giant white screen and dancers performed both in front and behind the divide.

The second part homed in on the death of two of Darwin’s daughters. The melancholy performance of Annie’s Box set the slightly muted tone of this section; emphatically haunting.

Colouring of Pigeons opened the third part of the opera with a jolt. The set opened up and we were privy to the entire stage. A ballerina twirled on the right of the stage, a pair dancers move to the disjointed sounds on the left, our soprano moved slowly around the front whilst the pop singer sat on a wall.

All of the performers were separate and yet united. This part of the performance had the publication of On the Origin of Species at its core and it’s from there that the music gained momentum.

Having been promised lasers I was delighted by the performance of Seeds at this point; pop singer Jonathan Johansson performed the techno-style track. A literal use of smoke and mirrors created the eerie effect of green flames dancing around Johansson.

The fourth and final part of the piece attempted to capture the complexity of modern day as an organism. The final track, The Height of Summer, could have been lifted straight out of Deep Cuts or Silent Shout. As we neared the end it was profoundly enjoyable to hear a track so reminiscent of The Knife.

As the show ended there was a sense of awe in the auditorium. Though highly abstract and subject to a lot of interpretation – Tomorrow, In a Year was an enthralling trip through theatre fusion. We left the auditorium knowing that we had witnessed something pretty damn special; our hearts well and truly squeezed.

Tomorrow, In a Year performed on 27 and 28 July at:

Barbican Theatre
Silk Street
Barbican
EC2Y 8DS

Tel: 020 7638 8891