'Universe a Dark Crystal Odyssey'
Company Wayne McGregor

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'[AN] ARRESTING MEDITATION ON OUR AILING PLANET COMBINING DANCE, POETRY, FILM AND MUSIC TO STARTLING EFFECT'

- Lyndsey Winship, The Guardian
 

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'A TREMENDOUSLY INVENTIVE SHRIEK OF HORROR AT THE STATE OF THE PLANET... A RETINA-DAZZLING, THOUGHT-PROVOKING SUCCESS'

-Mark Monahan, The Telegraph

 

UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey is a striking and emotional meditation on the climate crisis. Inspired by Jim Henson’s cult classic The Dark Crystal — a tale of a fragile planet and a divided species — UniVerse reimagines that narrative through the lens of our own world, depicting an Earth fractured by extremes and urgently in need of restoration.

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Fusing breathtaking digital environments, futuristic costume design, and high-tensile choreography with spoken word, the production creates a rich, cinematic experience. It offers a haunting yet hopeful vision — a contemporary eco-myth that speaks to the deep and inseparable bond between humanity and nature.

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Performed by the extraordinary dancers of Company Wayne McGregor, this is a visually arresting and emotionally charged work that asks: what will it take to become whole again?

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VentMedia’s Role:

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VentMedia was brought on following the initial performances to prepare UniVerse for touring and ensure technical stability across varied venues. Our work included:

• Reprogramming the entire show from Disguise to Pixera media servers, ensuring flexibility, resilience, and smoother operation in touring conditions

• Refining and optimising content for consistent, high-quality playback

• Supplying and configuring the technical infrastructure, the show includes four 20,000-lumen projectors used to create seamless, holographic illusions across a 14-metre-wide HoloGauze

• Providing on-tour technical support and integration to maintain visual fidelity and immersive experience throughout the run

The result was a fully immersive touring version of UniVerse that stayed true to the original vision while delivering a failsafe, tour-ready system capable of wowing audiences worldwide

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Director and Choreographer: Wayne McGregor
Music: Joel Cadbury
Film Design: Ravi Deepres
Lighting Design: Lucy Carter
Costume and Headpieces: Philip Delamore and Dr. Alex Box
Spoken Word Artist: Isaiah Hull
Dramaturg: Uzma Hameed
Media Systems Design, Reprogramming & Content Enhancement: Vent Media

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