Kid Koala’s ‘Nufonia Must Fall’ meshes music, film with puppetry
Turntablist Eric San, known as Kid Koala, created a graphic novel called “Nufonia Must Fall” about a tone-deaf robot wooing a human love interest. A live adaptation directed by K.K. Barrett took place at Royce Hall on Jan. 29.
The dimly lit stage hosted a bustling 13-man team composed of cameramen switching angles, musicians harmonizing and puppeteers directing miniature characters.
When the audience’s gaze shifts upward, the hectic scene completely transforms fluidly to black and white film.
The Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA will present “Nufonia Must Fall” in Royce Hall on Friday. Based on the graphic novel by turntablist Eric San, widely known as Kid Koala, the performance chronicles a tone-deaf robot in his attempts to woo his human love interest, while grappling with his more technologically-sophisticated robot foe.
The performance is directed by K.K. Barrett, who has worked on production design for films such as “Her” and “Where the Wild Things Are,” and features an original music score performed live by Kid Koala and the Afiara Quartet.
— Lena Schipper, Jan. 29
Read the full article at the Daily Bruin website.