Damon Albarn's Doctor Marks ENO Olympic Fest, by Sacked... on May 17, 2011 19:39:16 GMT 1,
Doctor Dee, the latest theatrical offering from Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, will receive its London premiere next summer as part of the London 2012 Festival to mark the capital’s hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The production - which is directed by award-winning theatre director Rufus Norris (whose premiere of controversial verbatim musical London Road has just extended at the National) and will be seen first this summer at Manchester International Festival, running there from 1 to 9 July 2011 – provides the 2011/12 season finale for English National Opera. It opens at the London Coliseum on 25 June 2012.

In the age before science and magic parted company, Doctor John Dee was the ultimate Renaissance Man: astrologer, alchemist, mathematician and spy, he coined the term ‘British Empire’ and equipped the Elizabethan Court with the knowledge to make it manifest. The inspiration for both Christopher Marlowe’s Faust and Shakespeare’s Prospero, Dee studied the Heavens, he spoke with Archangels, and he paid a bitter personal price.

Doctor Dee continues a series of successful works for Damon Albarn with Manchester International Festival, including his 2009 collaboration with Punchdrunk, It Felt Like a Kiss, and his 2007 piece Monkey: Journey to the West, which subsequently transferred to the Royal Opera House and The O2 in London, as well as international engagements.

www.whatsonstage.com/news/theatre/london/E8831305630467/Damon+Albarn's+Doctor+Marks+ENO+Olympic+Fest.html