Anthony Neilson’s 2004 Edinburgh International Festival acclaimed show The Wonderful World of Dissocia, starts its new touring production this month, in collaboration with The National Theatre of Scotland, Edinburgh International Festival, Drum Theatre Plymouth, and the Tron Theatre Glasgow.

Lisa Jones has lost an hour. And only upon discovering this does she realise that this is the reason things haven’t been going so well for her recently. So she must find it and get it back, it is her hour after all. Her task takes her to the world of Dissocia, where she must make her quest known and restore the balance in her life. As with most quest-like stories, all will not run smooth for our adventurer, as the Black Dog King terrorises the inhabitants of her new world.

Completely random yet cohesive, Neilson’s text pulls you violently and fantastically into Dissocia as quickly as Lisa is. Dark and fully loaded with all kinds of awful and wonderful ideas, Dissocia is an exemplary piece of new and original writing. Christine Entwisle’s performance of Lisa, shows us the endearing, curious and brave woman in act one, and her performance in act two, requiring a massive shift in style, was just as, if not more, engaging. Other cast members also deal well with the change between act one and two, some are even unrecognisable, particularly the performances of James Cunningham and Amanda Hadingue.

Due to Neilson’s detailed notes that are so integral to the text, who better than himself to direct the piece to perfection. His collaboration with all the designers means he gets exactly what he wants, and the designers get a whole new world to create. Beautiful to the point of choreography, Chahine Yavroyan’s lighting transports us instantaneously to Dissocia, which is no more than a raked and carpeted platform at its most basic level. The set change for act two is astonishing, and feeling much more distant, we are introduced to, with no amount of subtlety, what Neilson wants to say.  What a wonderful way to represent Scotland’s national theatre across the UK.

Touring:

Tron Theatre, Glasgow
28/02/2007 - 10/03/2007

Dundee Rep Theatre
20/03/2007 - 24/03/2007

Royal Court, Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
28/03/2007 - 21/04/2007

Theatre Royal, Plymouth
24/04/2007 - 28/04/2007

Oxford Playhouse
01/05/2007 - 05/05/2007

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
08/05/2007 - 12/05/2007

York Theatre Royal
22/05/2007 - 26/05/2007

Traverse, Edinburgh
06/06/2007 - 09/06/2007

Northern Stage, Newcastle
12/06/2007 - 16/06/2007