
enter wonder.land

About enter wonder.land
wonder.land is a National Theatre musical created by Damon Albarn, Moira Buffini and Rufus Norris, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s iconic story. The play explores the blurred boundaries between our online and offline lives. Alice is an avatar of real-life Aly, a teenage girl with problems both at home and school. The rabbit hole is the internet, which takes Aly through to the online virtual world of wonder.land.
To accompany the production we developed a series of digital experiences including:
- a virtual reality music video called ‘fabulous wonder.land’
- ‘cat face’ facial recognition screens
- a walk-in wonder.land green-screen experience
- an avatar builder
Created with the set designers for wonder.land, the world of the production was represented spilling over into our front-of-house spaces. The installation was a collection of seven sets or references to the show, their designs influenced directly by the show’s design. The installation featured:
The School Toilets
In the production, Aly hides in the school toilets to escape her bullies, and uses her phone to go into wonder.land. For the installation, we redesigned a set of the school toilets to replicate this for audiences. While sitting on the toilet, visitors experienced the virtual reality music video ‘fabulous wonder.land’. Grimy, green and slimy, the toilets were covered in graffiti, with headsets and headphones resting on toilet roll holders. There were five toilets for a seated experience and a hand dryer for an accessible or standing experience.