Writer and Director: Jack Bradfield
Lyricist and Rapperturg: Gerel Falconer
It’s not unusual to meet strange characters at Brixton Underground. In fact, it’s unusual not to. That’s exactly what happens to Alice in this contemporary, madcap adventure of the Lewis Carroll classic. Devised by Poltergeist, an exuberant young theatre company, this is a riotous antidote for anyone with panto fatigue. From its adaptations in movies, dramas, commercials, and graphics, many of us are familiar with Alice in Wonderland, but in this version, it’s been updated, urbanised, abbreviated, and accelerated.
Alice, energetically played by Tatenda Matsvai, is an antsy schoolgirl who knows everything. She knows the stupid book they’re reading in English (Alice in Wonderland) is a bit rubbish because it turns out to be a dream. Hormones rage as she and her stressed mother have a public row at the tube station. They part when Alice, 11, refuses to hold her mother’s hand. Truculent Alice is instructed to meet mum at the next stop, and when she steps onto the next train somewhere between Brixton and Stockwell, the adventure begins.
Anarchic, riotous, and pun-filled, this show of 1 hour, 50 (with an interval) captures the charm of the original, but a talented creative team and ensemble bring it bang up to date. Rabbit, hilariously played by Gavin Dunn, spins up and down on electric skates; Rosa Garland and Will Spence are Dum and Dee, the cockney goalies. Spence also takes Chesham Cat form, a mischievous hacker who gets into Alice’s mobile with access to her private data, anxieties – and lyrics. Cheyenne Dasri plays hassled mum, imperious Queen and Chatter, who sounds like Lorraine Kelly on drugs.
The theatre space ingeniously transforms into a tube carriage. Set designer Shanko Chadhuri creates visual cues with recognisable upholstery, poles and screens that mimic tube posters to draw audiences into a surreal underground world. Gloriously imaginative, the play reworks the well-worn into something relatable and entertaining. The text also offers an additional layer and interactive game. How many tube names can you spot (and howl through?) With beguiling music, sound design by Alice Boyd recalls musical boxes and children’s activity centres while family-friendly raps (thumbs up to Gerel Falconer, lyricist and rapperturg) combine with song, dance, silly walks, sillier voices, magic tricks, and illusions. What’s not to like?
If there’s a message in the play, it’s not about remembering to hold your mother’s hand. Alice in Wonderland– Brixton style – is about the spirit of adventure, power of imagination and joy of creativity, expressed in reverse by the “commuters” whose eyes, taped shut, wander like stupefied zombies. As Tortoise notes, “Fear can eat everything.” Not quite dead but not quite living, the commuters represent small worlds, echo chambers and brainwashed hoards. The idea of breaking the deadening loop for adventure, conversation, chance meetings and the wisdom/ nonsense of strangers is the real in the surreal and infinitely more appealing.
Runs until 4 January 2024
The Reviews Hub Score
Riotous antidote
