Alice In Wonderland At The Old Rep

Yesterday saw a fantastic return of the Birmingham Ormiston Academy cast to the stage at The Old Rep Theatre with a lively, fun performance of Alice In Wonderland. The talented company of students and professionals wowed the audience with song and dance in a lovely, family friendly production that has a whole lot of heart.

The story is a little different from the Alice in Wonderland that you know. Alice is all grown up, a mother of three daughters, and transports them to Wonderland through her storytelling, telling them to let their imagination run wild. Once there, they meet all those familiar, much loved characters, the Mad Hatter, the Doormouse, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, the March Hare, and, of course, the Queen of Hearts, who has accused the Knave of stealing her tarts and is intent on taking off his head.

The beauty of this performance of Alice in Wonderland is that it is utterly bonkers. The first half action doesn’t really make that much sense, it is instead a riot of colour and excitement, and is all the more exhilarating for it, with the Spades cast clearly loving the experience and this is certainly transferred to the audience. The second half is more traditionally ‘Alice‘, we have the tea party (with the amazing ‘One Place Round’ song which is a show highlight, the croquet with hedgehogs and flamingos) and of course, the trial of the Knave. All the scenes are wonderfully colourful due to the costumes and the fantastic set, a real visual treat for the eyes.

Their are four different casts for the show. This week is the Spades cast, and all are excellent, with special mentions needed for Liam Carr as the wonderfully fidgety March Hare, Luey Pearce at the excitable Mad Hatter and Imogen Sharp as a commanding Queen of Hearts. Emily Glasgow as the grown up Alice, works so well as the sort of narrator figure, keeping the action and the story flowing,

Alice in Wonderland is lovely, a triumph for its young and talented cast, leaving you with a warm and fuzzy feeling as you leave the theatre. Go see and support young theatre.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Sharing is caring!