Penny Farrows’s production of Alice in Wonderland is a colourful and creative retelling of Lewis Caroll’s classic tale and the marvellous adventures his Alice gets up to.
This production also weaves in a few other references from Caroll’s works that broaden the performance beyond the original text. The performance runs for 60 minutes and focuses on the key moments in Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
The stage design, props, and puppets are all grand for this production, with a lot of thought clearly put into perspective. An excellent example of this is how Alice’s character really does seem to shrink as she drinks out of a jar that gets bigger and bigger with each sip.
The costumes in this performance are grand and majestical, making the audience feel like they are down some weird and wonderful rabbit hole. Be it Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum’s humorously disproportionate garments or the overly large ears of the March Hare, the audience is genuinely transported into Alice’s new world with these new and zany characters.
It was lovely to see the cast working as an ensemble from start to finish on opening night as the play opened and closed in a joint narration. Physical theatre was employed as the cast shared the storytelling, and it was a joy seeing the actors weave in and out of their costumes throughout the performance as they embodied such whacky and whimsical characters.
Although I found myself laughing out loud many times during this performance, I found the pacing lagged occasionally with some noticeable gaps. It became particularly problematic in the water scene, where the audience first meets some odd characters of Wonderland. There needed to be a stronger pulse to keep the chaos in order.
That said, I really enjoyed this Alice in Wonderland performance, as did my children who came with me. This show is for all ages and would be a shame to miss!
This review also appears on It’s On The House, and more reviews can be found on Dark Stories Theatre Reviews – it’s an excellent way to see what else is on in your town.
