I have to say advertising works (sometimes), I serendipitously saw an advert online for ‘Pluto’ a Manga, Astro Boy adaptation at the Barbican Centre, it was only going to be on for that weekend, so I quickly looked it up and saw there were still tickets left.
I was inspired by Manga growing up and tried to draw manga-esque illustrations and Astro boy has always been in my childhood, I can’t recall when it was first introduced to me. So seeing that advert ticked all my boxes – I knew it was something I had to see.
And it did not disappoint! I’m sorry it was not on for a longer period so I could recommend others to go. It was absolutely bloody brilliant, every detail visually and in the storytelling, the set design, the actors/dancers were amazing, the choreography, ahh the whole thing I just loved it! And I guess because it was a Japanese production and limited it was affordable for me unlike some of the west end shows I would like to go see. I can’t express how pleased I am that I got to see it.
Pluto is a reinterpretation of Astro Boy written by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki (originally an eight-book manga series based on Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy), it is directed by Belgium choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.
It depicts a universe where robots and humans co-exist but conflict arises, with the main theme questioning what it means to be human. (Which is something I can honestly say is something I question a lot especially when reading the news.)
I particularly love this discussion piece with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Helen McCarthy especially this part here:
You can read the full discussion piece about Pluto here.
All photos used are taken from the Barbican website.
They didn’t have all the names of the actors and dancers but here are the credits for the production and creative team.
by Law: to feed my creative soul 