Brighton Little Theatre Review: Alice In Wonderland (Pantomime)

Summary

Rating: ★★★★

Running Dates: Saturday 13th December - Saturday 20th December

Where to see it: Brighton Little Theatre

Duration: 2 hours incl. interval

Keywords: theatre, pantomime, classic

Photography by Isabel Meszaros

Brainerd Duffield’s adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice In Wonderland was an interactive, perfectly amusing, and tantalising performance.

The pantomime used Brighton Little Theatre’s small seating arrangement to bring the audience along on Alice’s journey through wonderland, as she meets an ensemble of peculiar characters. The room was constantly filled with the audience's laughter and the stage set cleverly used not only the front row, but the whole crowd to create an immersive experience.

Director Tina Sitko did an incredible job of ensuring the cast used the compact space wisely to create a range of scene locations, as well as walking through the crowd to utilise the off-stage space. The cast was made up of all volunteers, all offering fantastic performances– especially Laurits Bjerrum’s as the White Rabbit. His energy was just unmatched.

This adaptation of the classic tale takes on a campy vibe and energy that perfectly nestles into Brighton’s culture. The colourful costumes, dizzyingly high heels and gender-bending casting offer an innovative take on Alice’s story.

All of the costumes were handmade and fit the characters eccentric and ‘mad’ vibe. The most notable were the Caterpillar (Daniel Carr) in his blue shining costume, Humpty Dumpty’s (Lily McCaffrey) egg, and the Mock Turtle (Jack West), whose shell was incredibly made.

My favourite characters were the Mouse and Humpty Dumpty, both played by Lily McCaffrey. She brought a humorous style to her acting, adopting an accent as the mouse and easily winning over the cast with her frequent jokes and unserious nature.

Polly Jones played the curious, clever, and caring role of Alice well and her soft voice helped to carry the musical numbers along.

Photography by Miles Davies

One thing that slightly disappointed was that Cheshire Cat performed against a projection over a curtain, instead of a physical set. This undermined Ingrid Mort’s very on-brand performance. However, with such a small cast performing a multitude of roles, it’s hard to complain.

At the end of the show the cast piled out of the theatre with the reminisance of glitter still lingering on their faces, mirroring the smiles on ours.

Review

Stand-out Scene: When Tweedledee (Tonie Ow) and Tweedledum (Hannah Sumner) came on stage, their rendition of the pair was both hilarious and enthralling.

Last Impressions: With tickets priced at £12.50 for adults and £10 for under 14s, drinks at the theatre’s bar being cheaper than Wetherspoons, the offering of perfectly spiced mulled wine and mince pies, and free programmes, there is really no reason not to see such an amazing show put on by a cast who clearly love their job and roles.

Written by Isabel Meszaros