O Frabjous Day!

It’s cliched to say that the Children’s Theatre Company‘s production of “Alice in Wonderland” in wonderful.

But despite trying so hard to think of a different, less predictable adjective as I sat in the audience on opening night this past Saturday I came up short. It is wonderful, plain and simple.

Not that there’s anything plain or simple in the performance. It is a play filled with momentum, a madcap evening of familiar characters portrayed in charismatic, contagious charm.

How the ensemble maintained the level of energy the story required I will never know. I’ll chat about Alice and the Cheshire Cat and the other characters we tend to think of when we think of this classic story in a moment, but the ensemble constantly took on new roles, whether they were painting the roses red, portraying segments of a caterpillar, or the king’s men trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. They were committed to every role they took on. They were having so much which just made their performance that much more magnetic.

Alice was charming and brave, sincere and kind. The Cheshire Cat was otherworldly and had a very creative take on them, almost serpentine instead of feral. The Duchess was terrifying, the Queen was unpredictable and dangerous, the White Rabbit was forever looking at their watch, wondering where their gloves were. Humpty Dumpty was a treat. The Mad Hatter had echoes of Tom Waits, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum were perfection. I was tempted to share a production photo of the Tweedles but I don’t want to spoil it for you. They definitely earned the biggest laughs of the evening.

This is the fourth performance I’ve seen by this amazing company over the last few months. Each play has been unique, charming, and just so. much. fun. It’s a lovely blend of incredibly professional performances watched by an engaged crowd filled with kids marveling at every special effect and larger than life characters.

The Children’s Theatre is the type of entertainment that I adore. Intelligently written for any audience but never written down for a child. Fun, accessible, enchanting. Over the last few months I visited Whoville and Wonderland all from the comfort of a theatre.

You’ll not regret seeing this lovely performance.

Thank you to CTC for a wonderful (couldn’t resist) evening and for the invitation.

Love, Hannah