Wonderland still as crazy as ever
LEWIS Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland has captured the imagination of generations across the world since its first publication 150 years ago. It regularly springs up as children’s theatre entertainment.
And now a local production at Pemads Little Theatre is joining the ranks of the many adaptations over the years.
This time, the landscape of Wonderland has been adapted to include a number of Through the Looking Glass characters.
Brought to Bay audiences by the Rother-Swain Drama Studio, the play uses two teams (alternating performances) consisting of 55 pupils respectively.
The Team Wonderland cast was on the boards for Monday evening’s performance.
The studio principals and co-directors of this adaptation – Sharon Rother and Linda-Louise Swain – tried to keep the story true to Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, but it was a bit haphazard at times, disrupting the flow of the narrative.
Alice finds herself transported to a number of scenes through poor transitions, fortunately assisted by the well-delivered narration of storyteller played by Tamryn Louw.
I imagine that the first act might have been slightly unnerving for the young thespians, with a less-than-enthusiastic audience barely clapping or cheering at the end of scenes.
Then again, having two casts appearing on alternative evenings might also have been to blame.
Although the first act of the play seemed a bit tense – possibly first-night jitters for Team Wonderland – there were some memorable performances by Luke Erasmus as the Cheshire Cat and Kyrah Lloyd as Big Alice.
After the interval, the cast seemed to have settled their nerves.
The second act opened with the well-loved Tea Party where the audience was introduced to the Mad Hatter, played by Jamie Smith, who did very well in delivering a tangled dialogue.
Other creditable performances were from Jade Strooh and Matthew Hall as the Queen and King of Hearts respectively.
Josh Neubert also added some light-hearted moments as the White Knight.
To top this all, the Lobsters and their catchy tune found favour with the audience.
The colourful and imaginative costumes were by Amanda Ffoulkes and there was a crafty set design by Party Adventures’ Madeleine Mahieu and Alan Cooper.
Overall, the stage direction seemed a bit disorganised, which could be because there were two teams of characters directed by two different people.
It is understandable that the theatre company wanted to give all their charges a chance to be in the play and build stage experience.
The production highlights these young actors’ capabilities and those of the principals too.
However, even with the few flaws mentioned, the show is most enjoyable and worthy of a fun theatre outing for the whole family.
Alice in Wonderland runs at the Pemads Little Theatre until Saturday.
Tickets at R70 are available from Gavin Rother at gavin.rother@gmail.com
For further information, visit www.rotherswaindrama.weebly.com or the studio’s Facebook page: Alice in Wonderland.