New Vic Theatre, Newcastle Under Lyme – until Saturday 28th January 2023
Reviewed by Lesley Eagles
3***
The unique setting being a ‘theatre in the round’ means that you immediately feel immersed in the story from the outset.
The story begins on the family barge with a short bobbed, brown haired Alice rather than the more traditional version that you may be more familiar with.
Echoes of the story being set in the heart of Stoke are created with the surrounding imagery being that of smoking pottery kilns.
Alice, played by Eleanor Fransch, is a young girl who is extremely inquisitive asking an incessant amount of questions. Her character is likeable and irritating in equal measures, much like most children you meet! She displays the innocence and naivety of a young girl but also the know-it-all attitude that also comes with a child of that age who is learning to navigate life in a confusing adult world.
The barge soon turns into a street market stall where Alice meets a magician, The Great Blanco. An outstanding performance is given by Peter Watts who also plays the part of the White Rabbit. It is here that Alice begins her journey into a wonderland of adventure.
Alice follows the magician into a theatre where she finds herself tumbling through a trap door (rather than a rabbit hole) that she had been warned about on more than one occasion. Obviously In true child like fashion she had chosen to ignore this advice.
From here she goes on to meet an array of eccentric and entertaining characters, where she is often confused and battles to understand what is reality and what is fantasy.
What sold it to me was the versatility and clever design in which the story was told with many means of storytelling and outstanding puppetry of many styles. The shrinking and growing of Alice left the little girl in front of me in awe and I was equally entertained by her wonderful response.
The creative team have outdone themselves as the use of staging and props allowed fluidity throughout.
Purvi Parmar delivers an enthusiastic and determined performance of a vicious Red Queen threatening to behead her subjects and as a result gained the dislike of her audience. Opposite her, Victoria Brazier offered a beautiful vocal performance as the White Queen.
Danielle Bird plays the part of the mad hatter who, during the tea party, delivered a nonsense song with a great response from the audience, both young and old alike, who were thoroughly entertained.
In what was a magical performance, quite how they managed to overcome the challenges of performing some of the illusions in a theatre in the round is beyond me! However credit goes to Darren Lang for making it happen.
As always Theresa Heskins’ remarkable directorial style brings together a super performance from all those involved.
Although at times I found the story confusing, it is much like the original, nonsensical story which emphasises the many bewildering twists and turns of life in an often crazy adult world
Wonderfully entertaining and a truly magical performance