ALICE IN WONDERLAND till 30 December
ALICE IN WONDERLAND: FROM Lewis Carroll: Music, Carl Davis, Book and Lyrics, John Wells
Runs: 2h 10m, one interval, till 30 December
Review: Rod Dungate, 5 December 2006
Lots of good things, but I’m still left wondering about wonderland
There are lovely performances in this production, it’s well paced and it looks marvellous, yet I can’t help wondering why theatres keep wanting to adapt this ultimately unadaptable book for their acting spaces. The reason, of course, is that if you aren’t going to do a pantomime, there are only a very limited number of things you can do on the large scale. The problem is that Alice is a meandering tale (however brilliant) that lacks a strong narrative thrust. We don’t care whether Alice gets back to the real world – she doesn’t really care herself – and she’s never under threat. So although we may enjoy meeting with her the wide range of bizarre and interesting characters, we’re never truly engaged in the story.
One day someone might do a truly radical version, one that drags you kicking and screaming into its world and which offers, at the end, a sense of closure. Be interesting to see how that goes down.
At the centre of this production is a quite splendid Alice in Alison Pargeter’s performance. Not only is she engaging and charming – the usual things – but she also makes the characterisation original. There is a strong sense of Alice’s inquisitiveness, her ability to take on board anything that comes her way. Pargeter builds a direct bridge to us and sustains it with a lively physicality throughout. It’s a quirky take on the character and very successful.
The production sports a fine operatic Queen of Hearts from Jill Pert; she looks exactly like the card and I’d hate to meet her in a dark alley. The croquet game is beautifully and wittily staged. The scene between the Gryphon (Andy Hockley) and the Mock Turtle (Mark Roper) is humorously pathetic (I use the word in it’s strict sense) and I, like the Gryphon, would have liked more of the Quadrille.
The second half with these longer scenes is more successful because we have time to get to know the characters. In the first half the company need to sit back a bit more on their performances; not push quite so hard – it’s tiring for us.
Carl Davis has written the music and has given the show an operatic feel which helps towards a sense of unity.
Alice: Alison Pargeter
Jane: Nikki Shaw
White Rabbit: Gerard Carey
Dinah: Katie Haines
Lory: Nikki Shaw
Duck: Tobin Saunders
Mouse: Karen Mann
Owl: Andy Hockley
Dodo: Timothy Kightley
Monkey: Tom Lorcan
Mrs Crab: Katie Haines
Eaglet: Mark McGee
Canary: Mark Roper
Magpie: Matthew Hawksworth
Pat the Hedgehog: Oliver Jackson
Bill the Lizard: Joseph Pitcher
Squirrel: Nikki Shaw
Caterpillar: Mark Oxtoby
Fish Footman: Joseph Pitcher
Frog Footman: Andy Hockley
Cook: Mark Roper
Duchess: Karen Mann
Cheshire Cat: Nikki Shaw
Mad Hatter: Mark Oxtoby
March Hare: Oliver Jackson
Dormouse: Mark McGee
Card Gardener 2; Mark Oxtoby
Card Gardener 5: Mark McGee
Card Gardener 7: Joseph Pitcher
Knave of Hearts: Tom Lorcan
Executioner: Tobin Saunders
Queen of Hearts: Jill Pert
King of Hearts: Timothy Kightley
Gryphon: Andy Hockley
Mock Turtle: Mark Roper
Director: Ian Brown
Design and Costume Design: Ruari Murchison
Lighting Designer: Tim Mitchell
Sound Designer: Mic Pool
Associate Lighting Designer: Adrian Barnes
2006-12-07 16:20:24