By Donald Kimmel, Director of Alice in Wonderland
I love this story. It gives us a fabulous point of departure for imagination. So when I started thinking about what a theatrical version should look like, I decided that it should be abstract, and most definitely NOT a literal representation of the familiar Tenniel illustrations of Lewis Carroll’s workwhich often spring to the mind’s eye when thinking of Wonderland. But I did want to be true to the story Lewis Carroll wrote, so I simply cut and pasted together an abridged version of the story that could be acted out on a stage. And I couldn’t resist throwing in Jabberwocky from Through the Looking Glass. I think it puts a nice exclamation point on the play. I also decided that Alice should be played by six different actors at different times during the play, representing the changes, physical and psychological, that Alice experiences during her adventures, and allowing the audience even more fabulous points of departure for imagination.
      I have greatly enjoyed working with this wonderfully talented group of young actors. This is challenging material, and while the rehearsal process has been difficult at times, it’s also been a lot of fun–which is, after all, the point, right? I mean they don’t call it a play for nothin’… I hope this play provides a point of departure for your imagination, and that we all have a great deal of fun following Alice down the rabbit hole.
Photos by A. Rooney
