His Dark Materials - His Dark Materials 1

Synopsis

His Dark Materials takes us on a thrilling journey through worlds familiar and unknown. For Lyra and Will, its two central characters, it s a coming of age and a transforming spiritual experience. Their great quest demands a savage struggle against the most dangerous of enemies. They encounter fantastical creatures in parallel worlds - rebellious angels, soul-eating spectres, child-catching Gobblers and the armoured bears and witch-clans of the Arctic. Finally, before reaching, perhaps, the republic of heaven, they must visit the land of the dead.

Our Review:

9 December 2004

Tickets were as hard to come by as gold dust when the National first premiered its spectacular two-part theatrical adaptation of His Dark Materials last Christmas, and that’s going to be the case all over again as it returns there this year. So while dust, in Philip Pullman’s parlance here, is a manifestation of original sin, you may well have to commit one to get a ticket.

If you manage to do so, you’ll also discover some of the secrets of the parallel universes that it takes you to, as well as wrestle with some profound theological and spiritual questions to do with our casting out of paradise, notions of finding heaven wherever we are, and facing up to death.

All of this and a lot more is wrapped up in Nicholas Wright’s amazingly skilful and propulsive dovetailing of the three novels that comprise Pullman’s tale into a series of physical and spiritual theatrical adventures. The big quests are matched by bigger questions that raise the stakes...

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Latest User Review

194.106.62.126) - 22 March 2005:

Top-class children's theatre for the thinking teen. To the person who gave it two stars: You haven't even seen it! How do I know? It's not a musical!...

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