Alice in Wonderland: Review

It’s a mad, mad world – and sometimes feels increasingly so as we head towards the festive season – but none more so than in Wonderland, the magical underworld kingdom created by Lewis Caroll more than 150 years ago. Caroll’s classic tale has been transformed into a magical Wonderland featuring well-known places in Prescot and beyond, and has transformed Alice from a young girl into a Scouse mum who fell down the rabbit hole by mistake and desperately needs to get back to ‘me kids’ in time for Christmas.

She is helped on her adventures by a ‘pack’ of four cards and the infamous white rabbit –less so by the inanely grinning Cheshire Cat – to evade the evil clutches of the Queen. Despite being reconfigured into a Christmas panto (one for all ages, it is worth saying), the production has all the trademarks of Caroll’s original tale but with a difference – lots of corny jokes as you would expect from any Christmas production (‘oh, yes there are’), lots of audience participation (as you would expect from Shakespeare North at this time of year), and lots of irreverent and funny Scouse in-jokes.

The actors in this production have a lot of work to do, especially the four cards who change nimbly in and out of character as the plot demands (Martha Godber admirably doubling up as the evil Queen and card eight). Tia Larsen is particularly striking as the White Rabbit with a winsome French accent displaying mock outrage at every suggestion from Alice – a beguiling performance from such a young actor.

A stalwart of the Liverpool acting scene, Helen Garter as Alice reminds us of the special attraction of the madcap tale and why it has enchanted generation after generation. She is by turns bemused and terrified as her potential fate (yes, getting her head chopped off) becomes clear to her.

With a crisp script by Nick Hall and astute direction from Nathan Powell, the production has plenty of rousing new songs which skip along and maintain the frenetic pace we have come to expect of Christmas shows at Shakespeare North. The costumes are worthy of a separate mention themselves – when Milton Lopes graces the stage as the lugubrious Dodo there are howls of laughter form the audience at his ridiculous get-up, perhaps less Dodo and more Dada.

If perhaps not an obvious choice for a Christmas-themed show, but Alice in Wonderland surprises by the way it lends itself to festive silliness. More importantly, the show reminds us of why we want to be at home on Christmas Day with family after all the hectic madness (that word again) of lugging round the shops to buy Christmas presents and festive food for the table.

Alice in Wonderland is at Shakespeare North Playhouse from 22 November 2024 to 11 January 2025.