UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey, inspired by Jim Henson’s cult 1982 film The Dark Crystal, is the second Company Wayne McGregor production to grace the stage at Sadlers Wells this week after Autobiography v95 and v96, which was performed with great success.

UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey is a bold reinterpretation of Jim Henson's iconic film focusing on the theme of a world in peril and drawing parallels to the contemporary climate crisis. The production incorporates various artistic mediums, including digital projections, a powerful ominous score, elaborate sculptural costumes, and face-and-body art. The dancers serve as embodiments of elements and environments facing destruction, through choreography presented in an episodic format and with occasional spoken word sequences woven into the performance.

While the intention to address the environmental crisis is timely and ambitious, the production struggles with cohesion, vacillating between metaphorical and literal messages for change.

The spoken word segments, delivered by Isaiah Hull, effectively ground the narrative in a present-day context but sometimes feel discordant alongside the metaphorical dance sequences depicting destruction.

The digital projections by Ravi Deepres are most impactful when they reimagine the natural world in abstract forms, though they occasionally veer into overly literal representation, detracting from the fantastical atmosphere.

Philip Delamore’s costumes have exciting potential and add to the visual storytelling to create anthropomorphic like characters and become landscapes. However, fails to provoke a quality of movement that would heighten the otherworldly fantastical theme of the work. It therefore becomes slightly tiresome.

The score from Joel Cadbury is reminiscent of an 80’s fantasy film and stylistically drives and supports much of the work well. At times, it can become over melodramatic though and overrides the choreography with its intense string orchestration.

Despite these shortcomings, standout performers from Salomé Pressac and Rebecca Bassett-Graham inject energy into the production, maintaining its momentum while the technical proficiency and ensemble cohesion of the dancers ensure a captivating experience for the audience.

Overall, the impact of this work does not hit as hard as it is set up to due to a lack of consistency and it shies away from finding a deeper darkness and emotional level. However, the ambition and willingness to take risks Wayne McGregor instils into his company is a legacy of great merit always worth experiencing.

*** Three stars

Reviewed by: Stephanie Oszstreicher