Tale of robot girl crosses new, old worlds

Ann-Droid

State Theatre Centre of WA

4 stars

REVIEW JAY HANNA

Ann-Droid is theatre brought to life through incredible animation and digital technology.

It’s visually dazzling and spellbinding for children and grown-ups.

While producers Bandart Productions, from Hungary, have taken a modern and innovative approach to live storytelling, the tale they tell is grounded by familiarity.

Like Pinocchio or even Frankenstein (minus the horror), Ann-Droid tells the story of a lonely inventor (Szabolcs Toth-Zs), who decides to create a robot girl to fill the hole in his life.

The absent-minded creator, who blames himself for an earlier accident that cost the life of his daughter, sets about bringing a prototype of a robot girl to life in his kooky home laboratory.

When he inserts a power source into the heart-shaped box on her chest, Ann (Katalin Lengyel) slowly awakens.

From the onset, Ann is curious and inquisitive. While the rollerskates on her feet have her baffled at first, they can’t keep her still for long.

Soon she is off exploring the inventor’s home but one room is off limits to Ann — the bedroom that remains a shrine to his lost child.

When Ann turns her brain power up to high, the inventor realises his protege needs a challenge.

He unleashes a cast of his own inventions out into the world and sends Ann on a quest to locate them.

Her journey is realised in the most magnificent way through a stunning series of projected 3-D visual landscapes, from rolling green hills to scary hand forests. Ann leaps through clouds, swims through the ocean and climbs snowy mountains.

The computer game theme and effects are hugely appealing to the young audience. But the visual effects are awe-inspiring no matter what age you are — and among the best I’ve seen in any theatre production.

Along the way, strange things start to happen to Ann. Could this robot girl actually be coming to life?

Once the inventor lets her into his heart and the forbidden bedroom, things become clear.