ALICE IN WONDERLAND

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Little Waltham Drama Group

at the Memorial Hall

15.01.13

Alice the Panto was a refreshing change from the traditional canon, and though the script rarely sparkled, the entertainment value was high, thanks to some great performances and many delightfully unforeseen twists.

The invisible swords, the Karma Violets, the satnav. And the walkabout [with sweeties for all] was done this year by three wild haggis, to the strains of There's A Moose Loose …

A strong, experienced chorus provided many of these delights, not least the playing card army, proudly led by Richard Butler's camp commandant. Richard also brought the house down with his stoned Caterpillar.

Hannah Walker was a confident Alice, with Ken Little as Dame Milly, her mum, in a splendid playing card hat. Martin Final brought gravitas to the baddie, and Heather France worked brilliantly with Debra Hensman as the Tweedly Twins. From a huge cast, space only to mention Mike Lee's Mad Hatter, Viv Abrey's formidable Queen, trembling with fury, and Alex Lee's outstanding turn as Wally the jester, with cap and bells and an unending stream of groanworthy jokes – "plenty of hoke" indeed.

Good design work, too, with the goldmine backdrop especially impressive, lovely costumes in rich hues, and a marvellous mix of music [Darrel Drake at the keyboard] from the old Disney version to the almost operatic theme from the Tim Burton movie.

This unusual panto was adapted and directed by Jenny Broadway, with Chrissy Gould as Musical Director.

production photograph by Holly Anne France

Alice in Wonderland
Acting Up Theatre
Brentwood Theatre
19th February 2010

Jim Hutchon went through the looking glass ...

Taking an untried adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic into a new and strange venue was possibly an ambitious step too far for an amateur group trying to find its feet. The individual scenes were clearly delineated, but there was no sense of continuity between them. In fact, to anyone who hadn’t read the books, and there must be many such nowadays, the scenes and sequences would have been mystifying.
It gives me no pleasure to write this, as the talented and committed cast put in a lot of hard work to make the show work. And there were some good points, the clever idea of a book as a backdrop from whose pages the stories sprang, using a video wall to take the action outside and some superb costumes and beautifully made animal masks all helped.
It would be invidious to pick out individual performances, because some were good in one part and less so in another, though Holly Morrison, as Alice, was on stage throughout and didn’t put a foot wrong. I just wish she and the whole cast had shown more enjoyment in their roles. It is an axiom that if the cast is enjoying itself on stage, this is usually transmitted to the audience. For the future, and I hope the company Acting Up continues, I would recommend first, a good, well-known and well-written script, and a director who can focus the undoubted energies and talents of the company.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

at Riverside Ice and Leisure

16.12.09

Riverside's Alice on Ice had hordes of very talented skaters – the principals breathtakingly so at times – and superb costumes. Much of the ticket price must surely have gone on sound and lighting, both impressively inventive.

But it was only sporadically successful in any artistic sense. Don McNab's lavish production was at its best when music, choreography and character all came together, as in the opening Edwardian garden party, with its bassinets, parasols and a stylish taste of croquet to come. A neat pas-de-deux, and loads of rowing youngsters.

Other scenes, though, lacked focus: the Seaside [where the Edwardian bathing attire was better suited to the story – and the ice – than the Club Tropicana outfits], the Courtroom, and the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, despite Amber Ferguson's adorable dormouse.

Among the many scattered delights were the caterpillar, the red playing cards, the detectives and the candy-striped Cheshire Cat [Jane Faux].

Cat Clements' confident, athletic Alice was ably partnered by James Hunt as the White Rabbit. Steve Adcock was an impressively characterful Knave, with some brilliant routines, and, as the Queen, Helen Taylor successfully combined dramatic and skating skills. Choreography was by Louise Evans with Paula Austin.

Only when the whole cast assembled for the Someone Else's Dream finale did we see the scale of this annual extravaganza. Next year, Treasure Island gets the Riverside treatment.