Alice in Wonderland

I was really pleased to be invited to Congleton Youth Theatre’s production of Alice in Wonderland as I have never seen this version before and it proved to be a really enjoyable afternoon of entertainment. On the whole the show follows the traditional story   , it has a lovely musical score and has a wide variety of character roles for the performers to really enjoy. Ella Beaumont was an excellent Alice, a very confident actress with a beautiful singing voice and she related so well to all the other characters – a super performance. Rosie and Joe Pearce made a very lively and entertaining Tweedledum and Tweedledee, with Lauren Frost as an enigmatic Cheshire Cat with a fabulous smile and James Gittins as the energetic, but always late White Rabbit .Louise Condliffe and Tommy Chatten were a suitably regal, but totally mad Queen and King of Hearts, Daisy Mitchell and Amy Fitzgerald were entertaining as the Duchess and the Cook creating mayhem in the kitchen scene . Richard Vickers (Mad Hatter ) ,Lizzie Lomas (March Hare ) and Mason Bell (Dormouse )opened act 2 with an enjoyable  “Time for tea” , followed by the Queen’s croquet game where I really liked the “human” croquet balls  - a very clever idea . Xander Jacques  as the Caterpillar , and Marcus Wesley as the Mock Turtle performed their musical numbers well ,  Kate Holland working well as the Griffin .There were also a wide range of other roles in this production including playing cards , computers ,footmen,  butterflies, birds and other creatures , all of which were played with enthusiasm by the young performers . The set and props were kept simple but effective with a good use of projections and complimentary lighting, the costumes were imaginative and colourful and the musical numbers were led by an excellent orchestra with choreography that was suitable for the performers. This production was well directed by Laura Beech the performers were confident and enthusiastic, and along with an appreciative audience I really enjoyed the show --- thank you for inviting me.

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