 "Photo: Courtesy of MindFlare.com")
Most people are familiar with Alice in Wonderland, the fairytale by Lewis Carroll about a little girl who falls down a rabbit-hole into an alternate realm full of grotesque figures and magical beings.
The tale includes satirical allusions to the author's friends, enemies and the lessons taught to British schoolchildren. Yet, like all movie-adapted films, characters, dialogues and scenes are cut out, and sometimes even the plot may be lost.
In Nicole Rossi's production of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Break Through the Looking Glass," this is not a problem. Rossi, an Alice fan herself, began adapting the book last May.
In June, the set designer, Ben Gaetanos, began brainstorming and setting up, from miniscule details such as the floor all the way to the ceiling. Every aspect of the play was a challenge, from making the dark novel into something a bit more light and humorous, to the elaborate costume designs, the makeup and finally prepping the actors for their lively roles.
The team began rehearsing after October break, and put in several hours every day to memorize difficult lines and invested enormous energy into their characters.
Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" represents the Victorian era, a chaotic twist of gothic undertones, fantasy, power struggles, death and dark humor, yet still remains a children's novel. The only innocence left is in Alice's curiosity and her vivid imagination. The play captures the essence of Carroll's novel, and brings it even more complexity.
The theater is small, which means the audience is very close to the cast members, close enough to feel like they are part of the stage. The characters are all played out wonderfully, from the always wise Cheshire Cat, the dominating Queen of Hearts, the dynamic duo of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and of course, Alice herself.
The plot is true to the book: most of the characters are brought out in their real form and the dialogue is word for word. The stage is elaborately designed, with plenty of colors and glow-in-the-dark paint. Strobe lights and fog effects make you as dizzy as Alice, and the riddles each character tell have you thinking and laughing throughout the play.
Joseph Ferrer (Tweedle Dum) says that the best part of being in this production is "being able to be silly, although it's hard getting into the character."
In the director's note, Rossi states that we don't pay attention to our lives anymore; we follow the same routines, day in, day out. So while we studious students study for our final examinations next week, make sure to take a break and go out to watch "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." I guarantee you it's the best break you'll take all week. You never know, "what piece of Alice will you take with you?"
