Disney's Alice in Wonderland JR

What a wonderful way to fall down the rabbit hole with Alice as she navigates the curious world of Wonderland on a journey of self-discovery.   The lovely setting of The Merlin Theatre was perfect for this afternoon of adventures with Easy Street Juniors.  The atmospheric opening which involved all the Wonderland cast (who are aged up to 11) and led nicely into the stories introduction when we find Alice (played by Lydia) being warned by her sisters that she must ‘be herself’.  Lydia had super diction and just the right amount of attitude to carry this titular role through the production.

As Alice travels through Wonderland, she encounters all of the iconic characters that audiences have come to love including the ever-tardy White Rabbit (Ida), whose smile was hiding the constant worry of her lateness.  The dancing and movement in ‘I’m Late’ was well done by the cast and there was some very creative use of hula hoops to be the rabbit hole which then moved into the next number as the hoops were used to ‘frame’ the characters whilst they gave Alice advice.  Rafe as the grinning Cheshire Cat provided us with a great introduction to the story and who coped with some difficult narrative to clearly narrate the story throughout.

Isla as the Dodo introduced us to the Caucus Race with super stature.  Tweedle Dum (Belle) and Tweedle Dee (Pearl) were wonderfully argumentative and confused, with both actors showing great timing in their delivery.  ‘How Do you Do and Shake Hands’ was a very enjoyable song and dance number which illustrated the ‘identity crisis and co-dependency’ of these two characters which was so well described by the Cheshire Cat in his continued narration.   The Flowers of the Golden Afternoon (Sophie, Tess, Harriet and Simmy) were beautifully cool and totally precocious as required for their characters with just a touch of the ‘mean girl’ behaviour.

We also met a very cool Caterpillar (Aahana) who helps Alice with lessons of self-discovery.  Caterpillar had very clear and articulate singing and there was super choreography to illustrate the many legs of this insect who dispensed lots of laid-back advice on how to have an adventure.  The wacky Mad Hatter (Henry) welcomed Alice to the ‘Unbirthday’ Tea Party which was celebrated with the March Hare (Anna).     The Cards,  including the Patience as the Two of Clubs and Arla as The Ace of Spades, organised the Royal Court and painted the roses so that they could be red to meet the Queen of Hearts (Violet) demands.  She really was a hot-tempered Queen who was verging on vicious during ‘Simon Says’.  The poor downtrodden, nervous King of Hearts (Monty) worked hard not to be forgotten.  Monty was also great as ‘the door knob’.

All the cast created such lovely characters and coped well with some challenging songs.  The costumes were colourful and suited the characters.  Lighting and sound was well used especially the sound effects as Alice shrunk and grew.  The open stage provided lots of space for the cast and props were used and moved by the characters including a very suitable house to show how Alice had grown and a lovely bag of carrots which looked good enough to eat! The projected screens provided bright backdrops and the whole production was a joyous trip to Wonderland.

Congratulations to all the cast, crew and to the creative team who give these young people an opportunity to perform and develop their stage craft in a safe and inclusive environment.

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