Review: Zayed and the Dream at the ENO
I had a sneaking suspicion that one of these days my tendency to book things that are "new" and "different" was going to come back and bite me in the ass. Today was that day.
Zayed and the Dream is not only one of the worst productions I've ever paid to witness, but also the most egregious piece of sycophantic bullshit ever to grace a London stage. The show is basically the "story" of how Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan "created" the United Arab Emirates.
My first clue that this was potentially going to be terrible technically was when I sat down in my seat a good 20 minutes early and you could hear some kind of angry rehearsing going on behind the curtain. I know that it's totally normal for companies to go over difficult or rough spots before the show to help things gel a little better before the next performance. This was not one of those moments and it was obvious from the moment the curtain went up. They had 7 guys with flags who were supposed to be embodiments of the 7 virtues of Zayed, and they were beyond terrible. I have seen Middle School colour guards with less than 1 month of rehearsal perform better. The rest of the dancing was mediocre at best - poorly rehearsed with only middlingly good choreography. And then there was the excessive use of (bad quality) projection that required scrims to go up and down constantly throughout the show, followed by everything being pre-recorded - including the singing and the "dialogue" which the performers then lip sync'd to, badly.
And then there were the lies. Like the fact that they built this glittering paradise all by themselves. I would put this show on par with Thanksgiving plays that portray the Native Americans as bumbling savages who are grateful to the English pilgrims who come to teach them about Jesus and modern farming techniques.
And then (yes it gets worse) at the very end. . .they had dancers from the Ukraine, Spain and China come out to give little 3 minute performances each to show how multicultural and exciting the UAE really is.
Don't get me wrong - they were very good Ukrainian, Spanish and Chinese dancers, but that didn't make my head exploding from the dissonance any less painful.
All in all the only good thing I can say is that it was colorful and short. Oh, and that I didn't pay full price for the tickets. Otherwise, a complete waste of a Sunday afternoon.
Zayed and the Dream is not only one of the worst productions I've ever paid to witness, but also the most egregious piece of sycophantic bullshit ever to grace a London stage. The show is basically the "story" of how Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan "created" the United Arab Emirates.
My first clue that this was potentially going to be terrible technically was when I sat down in my seat a good 20 minutes early and you could hear some kind of angry rehearsing going on behind the curtain. I know that it's totally normal for companies to go over difficult or rough spots before the show to help things gel a little better before the next performance. This was not one of those moments and it was obvious from the moment the curtain went up. They had 7 guys with flags who were supposed to be embodiments of the 7 virtues of Zayed, and they were beyond terrible. I have seen Middle School colour guards with less than 1 month of rehearsal perform better. The rest of the dancing was mediocre at best - poorly rehearsed with only middlingly good choreography. And then there was the excessive use of (bad quality) projection that required scrims to go up and down constantly throughout the show, followed by everything being pre-recorded - including the singing and the "dialogue" which the performers then lip sync'd to, badly.
And then there were the lies. Like the fact that they built this glittering paradise all by themselves. I would put this show on par with Thanksgiving plays that portray the Native Americans as bumbling savages who are grateful to the English pilgrims who come to teach them about Jesus and modern farming techniques.
And then (yes it gets worse) at the very end. . .they had dancers from the Ukraine, Spain and China come out to give little 3 minute performances each to show how multicultural and exciting the UAE really is.
Don't get me wrong - they were very good Ukrainian, Spanish and Chinese dancers, but that didn't make my head exploding from the dissonance any less painful.
All in all the only good thing I can say is that it was colorful and short. Oh, and that I didn't pay full price for the tickets. Otherwise, a complete waste of a Sunday afternoon.