Written by Jen Bowden    Friday, 12 February 2010 15:16   
Review: Alice in Wonderland
Culture
Bedlam Theatre
Run Ended
* * * 

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is an enchanting story; a young girl follows a white rabbit down a rabbit hole, encounters many bizarre adventures before waking up in true fairytale fashion to find it is all a dream.
  
Bedlam’s in-the-round production was innovative in it’s inclusion of audience members, but failed to see past the characterisation of Disney’s 1951 version.  Despite this weakness, the cast were excellent and provided a short but sweet evening of entertainment, in an intimate setting.

The production started slowly, with Alex Cory attracting the most attention as the brattish but curious Alice.  Several scenes seem to involve the entire cast running madly around the stage, and while this communicates the absurdity of life down the rabbit hole, it is a struggle to hear what the characters are saying. In the court scene, the positioning of debating ‘jurors’  behind audience members means that dialogue between Alice and the King and Queen is lost.

Several characters manage to re-capture the magic lost by the chaos and rejuvenate the often flagging pace. They also serve to draw attention away from one cast member who, embarrassingly, can't quite keep a straight face in her role as ‘the door’.  

The Mad Hatter and The March Hare are entertainingly bonkers, but it is the sleepy Doormouse who steals the show, as James Lamont’s dozy antics keep the laughs coming.  The Mock Turtle was another excellent performance that really brought some energy to an otherwise steadily paced scene.  

The costumes are wonderfully visual and inventive.  The live band that provides the music behind the scenes enhances the performance's enchanted air and add some originality to a well known story.  

The in-the-round set up  adds something extra to the presumption that this would be a retelling of a well worn tale, with half of the entertainment coming from audience expressions on the opposite side as the Cheshire cat uses others as props.
Generally Alice in Wonderland is a sweet but insubstantial production which some will find entertaining at the least and others will find tedious in the constant chaotic scenes and general silliness.
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Author of this article: Jen Bowden