Liam Tiesteel's PROJECT: WALTER arrives on the London fringe circuit with ambitious intentions, tackling questions of consciousness, identity, and what separates humans from artificial intelligence. The premise offers rich dramatic potential, though the execution struggles to fully realise its philosophical aspirations.
The musical tackles some pretty hefty questions about what makes us human. The story follows Walter, a ballet dancer who discovers he might actually be an android. It's an interesting idea, but the show doesn't quite manage to pull it off.
The main issue is the structure. The plot jumps back and forth between flashbacks and the present day, and honestly, it's hard to keep track of what's happening when. I found myself spending more time trying to work out the timeline than actually caring about Walter's journey. There's definitely a good story in here somewhere about identity and consciousness, but it gets muddled in all the jumping around and Walter's screaming.
Filip Holacky has written both the music and the book, and whilst the songs fit the sci-fi theme well enough, none of them really stuck with me. The score does what it needs to do, but it doesn't give you those moments that make you sit up and take notice.
The cast do a decent job with what they've got. Harrison Vaughan handles the physicality of Walter well, though the character's frequent outbursts make it difficult to connect with him emotionally. Walter spends much of the show in heightened distress, which, whilst understandable given his situation, leaves little room for quieter moments that might help us care about him. Kate Stevenson is making her professional debut as Blue, whilst Fergus Dale as Noah provides solid support. They all work fine together, though the script doesn't really give them much to sink their teeth into emotionally. The one thing that really worked for me was Tom Sadler's lighting design. He's created that sterile, unsettling lab feel brilliantly, and the lights help you understand when we're in different time periods, which is useful given how confusing the plot can be.
Look, there's something to be said for ambition, and PROJECT: WALTER is certainly ambitious. It's trying to do something different on the fringe, asking big questions about what it means to be real. With some work on making the story clearer and giving us some songs we can actually remember, this could be onto something. As it is, it's one for people who like seeing new work in development, rough edges and all.
It runs until 4 October.