Adapted and
Directed by Penny Farrow- Set designed by Zachary Lieberman - Costumes designed
by Zachary Lieberman and Ethan Walker - Lighting Designed by Sam Gibb -
Presented by Rapidfire International and M2 Productions.
Canberra
Theatre, 14th January 2018.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
 |
| Alice (Georgina Walker) at the Mad Hatters Tea Party. |
“It wasn’t
what I expected” a perplexed mum was overheard saying to her brood as they left
the theatre. Not necessarily a criticism, but what was she expecting?
Perhaps she
was expecting a pantomime. This production was certainly not a pantomime. Instead,
a play presenting a rather scholarly, visually impressive, realisation of
excerpts from several of Lewis Carroll’s writings, including “Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland”, “Alice through the Looking Glass”, “The Hunting of
the Snark” and “Rhyme? And Reason? “.
 |
| Alice (Georgina Walker) with The Queen of Hearts (Simon Burke-Holmes) |
Perhaps the
fact that the Queen of Hearts was played by a male actor, (Simon Burke-Holmes),
and the Mad Hatter was played by a female actor (Karen Krone), may have caused some
confusion. As both are veteran actors who played their roles straight, without
resorting to pantomime-style audience interaction, perhaps the casting should
have been reversed.
 |
| Alice (Georgina Walker) with The Mad Hatter (Karen Krone) |
Maybe,
thanks to Walt Disney, she was expecting songs. There were no songs. However
the sequences were narrated by the cast and linked with well-chosen incidental
music which effectively set the tone and mood of each scene. The pretty,
artfully-lit, setting with its giant mushrooms, and the clever costumes worn by
each character, effectively conjured up the original John Tenniel
illustrations.
 |
| The Caterpillar (Jackson McGovern) |
Nine
hardworking actors played no fewer than 20 characters during the performance,
which lasted exactly one hour. All the
favourite characters were there, including Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, the Mad
Hatter, The Queen of Hearts, The Door Mouse and a particularly impressive
Caterpillar.
She may have
expected the actors playing the puppet characters, particularly the White Rabbit
and the Cheshire Cat, to have taken more care with their puppets, especially given
that the amplified sound often made it difficult to work out which character
was speaking.
 |
| Alice with Tweede Dum and Tweedle Dee |
She may also
have expected more theatrical magic, given that one of the producers, Michael
Boyd, is one of the country’s most accomplished illusionists. As it was, the
direction was remarkably pedestrian. Most of the action was confined to the
centre of the stage, and opportunities for special effects, especially Alice’s
descent down the rabbit hole, were left to the imagination of the audience. It
was unlikely that she would have expected Alice (Georgina Walker) to speak with
an American accent.
However,
whatever her expectations, she could not have failed to have been impressed by how
attentively the large and predominantly young audience, listened to Lewis
Carroll’s timeless words. Bursts of laughter indicated their delight in the
word play, skewed logic and fantasy as they revelled in the timeless tales.
Whatever our
perplexed mum’s expectations, it would have been interesting to hear the
conversation in the car on the way home as she and her brood compared their
“Alice in Wonderland” experience.
This review also published in Australian Arts Review. www.artsreview.com.au
