Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland staged and performed by Wigan Little Theatre Youth at Wigan Little Theatre, Crompton Street, Wigan on Friday, 12th September 2025

Written by Lewis Carroll/Brainard Duffield ... Alice in Wonderland Jr tells the story of when young Alice plunges down a ‘rabbit hole’ and finds herself in a strange madcap world where everything seems upside down. She must find her way home, whilst finding herself along the way. She has many adventures as she travels through “Wonderland” and meets many of the weird, wonderful and comic iconic characters people have come to love: including the ever-tardy White Rabbit, the grinning Cheshire Cat, a cool Caterpillar, the wacky Mad Hatter, and the hot-tempered Queen of Hearts plus many many others!

Production Team ... from what I can gather, the production of this play wasn’t down to an individual, but a ‘team of dedicated theatre folk’ who have just one agenda ...to provide a safe and secure environment where young people can come along and thrive, feel safe, make friends whilst beginning and continuing their journeys into the fascinating world of theatre. The team here at Wigan includes husband and wife duo... Neil and Lauren Brogan-Brown, Alicia Scally, Aimee Oliver and I’m going to stick ‘the old neck out’ and suggest many other youth leaders who give of their time to encourage, inspire and challenge these young actors to develop their skills for use not only on stage, but skills that will serve them well throughout their lives.  Congrats folks ... another great production, full of amazing characters, and from the smiles and energy that emanated from that stage throughout the entire production, to the applause, laughter from the audience ... a production enjoyed by all those present, both on and off stage!  

The Cast... a total of twenty-nine young performers took to the stage to deliver this great production...  
Grace Ball played ‘Alice’;   Katie Lewis - ‘The White Rabbit  
Emily Williams - ‘The Mad Hatter’;   Viera Bersiha – ‘Queen of Hearts’
Millie Appleton – ‘White Queen’;  Scarlet Glanfield – ‘The Red Queen’
Leo Ball – ‘The Caterpillar’;  Amelia Byrne – ‘The Cheshire Cat’
Jacob Simpson – ‘The King of Hearts’;   Macy Gladwin – ‘The Knave of Hearts’
Niamh Richards – ‘The Duchess’;   Iona Armstrong – ‘The Mock Turtle’,
Sianna Cooper – ‘The Cook’;  Lily Kendrick – ‘The Gryphon’; 
Belle Halliwell – The Gryphon’ Caitlin Rodgers – ‘Humpty Dumpty’; 
William Hare – ‘The March Hare’, Lola Lyons - ‘Tweedledum’
Matthew Welsby -  ‘Tweedledee’, Flynn Parkinson – ‘The Frog Footman’; 
Abigail Brown – ‘The Executioner’, Lexi Van Zeist – ‘The Judge’;  
Tilly Dorrity - ‘The Mouse’;  Chloe Kewley - ‘The Mouse’., 
Aoife Anderson – ‘The Door Mouse’; Sam Oliver – ‘Queens Guardsman’
Isla Glanfield / Sienna Jennings / Eva Meekin – Queens Maids.

As most will know, this is where I ‘stick the old neck out’ and suggest MY favourites, as I say in all my reviews.... YOU will have your own favourites, but these are mine and I’m starting with our lead ‘Alice’ played really well by Grace Ball. Grace looked comfortable in this role from the very start. Hardly ever off stage, Grace looked confident, provided us with a believable character, who worked ever so well with all the characters she met throughout her journey... be proud Grace, good job! Loved, loved, loved Katie Lewis’s portrayal of ‘The White Rabbit’.... again, a great character created and again one who worked ever so well with all the other characters and in particular with ‘Alice’.  Good movement, loved her interaction with and through the audience ... gave me a ‘big surprise’ when she came alongside me... be very proud Katie.  Other good characters included Emily Williams as ‘The Mad Hatter’, Leo Ball as ‘The Caterpillar’, Amelia Byrne as ‘The Cheshire Cat, Caitlin Rogers as ‘Humpty Dumpty’ and finally, a smaller part that really did ‘stand out’ for me from the rest ... Sienna Cooper’s portrayal of ‘The Cook’ ... loved it, great character created who made me laugh, a lot!

Stage/Set/Tech ... thought the set was an inspired piece of work with the ‘chess board’ stage floor and the ‘chess pieces’ depicted on the flats stage left and right... but what was exceptional was the ‘projected images’ that started immediately with a set of ‘Cat’s Eyes’ that moved around the rear.  Loved the ‘book’ projection, thought that created such wonderful effects and the projection that created location just added/enhanced the overall production ever so much.  Alicia Scally (Stage Manager), Neil and Lauren Brogan-Brown (Set Design), Neil and Alan Sharples (Set Construction), Neil and Alicia Scally (Set Painting) with Andy Brown, Mel Meadows and George Archer (Lighting & Sound) ... we should congratulate them all for what happened with this stage, set and the tech, especially the projection which was amazing and enhanced the production ever so much!

Costume and Props... once again WLT did a fabulous job costuming this production! All the costumes were perfect ... it really can’t have been easy assembling this wardrobe ... so its congrats to Stacey Vernon on her efforts and the same goes to Elaine Delaney, Katie Davies and Julie Dixon for a great set of ‘Props’ which were authentic and used well throughout... be ever so proud ladies!

Chaperones... being one myself, I’m never one to forget and thank those ‘selfless folk’... not named in the programme, who give of their time to ensure that these young actors feel safe and secure whilst allowing them to do what they do and what they enjoy on stage!  Be very proud, you know who you are!  

Constructive Advice ... no matter how small the role, never forget that those people sitting on the back row or on the balcony need to hear every word you speak... “project” ... always important... even a ‘whisper’!

Thank you so much for the invite, was great to meet and chat with Anne Woolley pre show, loved the production... be very proud all involved.

Stay safe, keep well…
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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