Theater review: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ at Children’s Theatre Company is chaotic but entertaining
This is one wild Wonderland.
Once a decade or so, Children’s Theatre Company revisits Sharon Holland’s adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland,” which it first premiered in 1982. The latest incarnation feels somehow faster and more chaotic than customary, careening about the craziness at a breathtaking pace and maintaining an uneasy air as the audience’s grip on reality shifts and shifts again.
Yet it’s a very entertaining production, full of vividly crafted characters festooned in the brilliantly imaginative costumes of G.W. Mercier, who also designed the discombobulating set. Mercier died in 2021, and it’s hard to imagine a more apt tribute than restaging a production that might be the magnum opus of his artistry. This is an eye-popping “Alice,” bursting with color and creativity.
That said, I’m certain some audience members will find the whole thing a little too relentless. For the penultimate production he’ll direct in his 25 years leading CTC, Peter Brosius seems to be holding up a mirror to our mood during this latest age of anxiety. While there’s fun to be found at almost every stop on our tour of this subterranean land of the absurd, there’s also an unsettling swiftness to each vignette and segue, no scene ever reaching a resolution before we’re cast off into another.
So, for those seeking a sense of stability and calm in these unpredictable times, this is not your Wonderland. Then again, many younger audience members will no doubt find this high-stimulation landscape familiar.
But, compared to your average theater production, this feels pretty frantic. From the moment Alice plunges down the rabbit hole – the current ubiquity of that term says something about our times – she’s in a full sprint, pursuing that watch-wearing bunny (“I’m late, I’m late”) across the stage, up and down ramps and staircases, and in and out of the theater’s side doors, often followed by a rushing river of other characters.
When Alice does stop for a conversation with someone from Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel for young readers (and its sequel, “Through the Looking Glass”), we’re introduced to some marvelous collaborative creations from the minds of Carroll, designer Mercier and an infectiously enthusiastic cast. Such as a Croc-rocking caterpillar, a Cheshire cat whose paws and tail encompass the whole stage, and the bouncing balloon people, Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
Among the standout performances are a pair from CTC veteran Dean Holt as both an effete, arrogant Humpty Dumpty and a Mad Hatter who brings the silliness to fever pitch in tandem with Nathan Keepers’ equally hysterical March Hare. But the most memorable character is China Brickey’s Queen of Hearts, who balances the monarch’s explosive hostility with a vulnerability in her eyes, serving a reminder that bullies are often driven by fear. And Neal Beckman proves a believable enabler as the king.
The most demanding role of all is Alice. Alternating in the part are Audrey Mojica and Anja Arora, and Mojica was invariably engaging on opening night, balancing bewildered agitation with an admirable strength of spirit.
Sporting a score by astounding one-man band Victor Zupanc, it’s a staging full of physical comedy. Sometimes we lose Carroll’s clever wordplay amid all the action, but it’s nevertheless an “Alice” that speaks to our times.
‘Alice in Wonderland’
When: Through March 31
Where: Children’s Theatre Company, 2400 Third Ave. S., Mpls.
Tickets: $87-$15, available at 612-874-0400 or childrenstheatre.org
Capsule: Very entertaining, but some may find its chaotic tone too reminiscent of reality.
Related Articles
Review: Touring version of ‘Mamma Mia!’ goes big and loud, too much so
With History Theatre production ‘Handprints,’ Greta Oglesby shares the songs in her heart
Theater review: Guthrie Theater’s ‘Dial M for Murder’ tempts the audience to root for the villain
‘Funny Girl’ revival, now playing at the Orpheum Theatre, pays homage to the original
Guthrie Theater’s ‘Art’ offers something to think — and argue — about