Elvis Evolution review: The King is in the building – kind of
Elvis Evolution review and star rating: ★★★★
We live in an age where the image of Elvis prceedes the reality of the man himself. Think of Presley and bequiffed impersonators from Vegas to Blackpool probably come to mind. In many ways, he has been bastardised by mimicry. Elvis Evolution has an incredibly nuanced way of circumnavigating this problem which I found incredibly touching. I won’t reveal the surprise, but there are certainly no tacky beachfront showmen making a dime here.
Live events space ImmerseLDN that houses the Elvis Evolution show is part of a £300 million development at Royal Docks that also includes Friends and Squid Game immersive experiences. The show tells the backstory of the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, focusing on how rhythm and blues, soul and the black experience shaped Presley.
Growing up in Mississippi, the Presleys were one of four white families in a predominantly black neighourhood, and Elvis’ real life childhood friend Sam Bell (who died in 2021) acts as the protagonist. The story explores their boyhood relationship through to when Elvis had become a global superstar. We meet the people who stood in Elvis’ way, and helped carved out his path.
Elvis Evolution: a new template for immersive theatre
The action takes place in a TV studio, the backlot, a tropical bar and his hometown of Tupelo in Mississippi. All have been recreated with incredible attention to detail. There are some beautiful scenes imagining action hero versions of Elvis and Sam who, as children, are caught in a storm. Using projection screens and lighting displays, it is a beautiful way to convey their childhood creativity, and the show culminates in a particularly stirring scene depicting Elvis walking on stage for his big TV return in ‘the ’68 Comeback Special. The whirl of lighting and special affects make this hair-raising stuff.
The expensive-looking production takes almost two hours to walk through as actors hoard groups from set to set. It wouldn’t work without capable actors, but it often doesn’t take much – the flurry of flustered techies or TV producers within the Elvis world – to make us feel like we are truly there. The only issue is for about half an hour of the experience a lack of tiered seating in one auditorium means it’s a struggle to see the full action on stage, and half the view is the back of other audience members’ heads. You exit the world of Elvis into an incredibly lively after party with Elvis themed “all shook up” cocktails and a live band.
ImmerseLDN’s arrival into the immersive theatre space comes amid much criticism about the state of the genre as a whole. There have been too many average immersive theatre productions that haven’t had the imaginative quality behind them to justify the ticket costs. Critics aren’t taking these shows seriously yet either: only two UK national newspapers sent reviewers to Elvis Evolution’s opening night.
Since the likes of Punchdrunk invented the form by staging theatre in abandoned office blocks, the immersive landscape has been trying to work out what to do next. I’d argue that ImmerseLDN’s Elvis Evolution is edging closer to that answer.
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