Alice Lights Up The Chequerboard
The Playbox Theatre, Warwick, presents Alice Through the Looking Glass written by Toby Quash with Blank Shift Writers, 19 December – 30 December 2024.
Review by Ann Cee
Lewis Carroll's story of Alice Through the Looking Glass is deliciously re-considered by Toby Quash and his crew of young writers, the Blank Shift Writers. They and the director Emily Quash have packed this fast paced show with oodles of wit, movement and humour as well as a little audience participation to create a familiar tale with all the expected magical critters and characters, but with plenty of original crack to keep you guessing about what will happen next.
Mery Sutherland is terrific as Alice as she winds her way through mysterious squares on the chess board with no real idea of what kind of contrary or upturned world she is going to step into next or who will be the linchpin in that world. I loved the flowers (Emilia Danks-Smith, Abbey Elston, Lyla McLeod) who had some great lines and were bolstered by a bouquet of dancers creating a lovely feminine garden vibe with a dash of teenage world weariness. And Humpty Dumpty’s demise is utterly smashing (Liam Browne).
Humour came into the show from all angles with fun mime, inconceivable props (I loved the steam train’s steam) and fab moments of slapstick. Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Dylan Somanathan, Nathanel Saleh) batted the jokes about with great aplomb, precarious comedy cycling and superb dance moves.
The red and white queens (Elysia Sully, Esme Fleeman), kings (Quillan Mitchell, Hamish Douglas) and knight (Tom Lomas) banter with Alice as she races without going anywhere, battles without fighting and navigates without finding her way or even remembering the names of things. It really is a very magical tale of warm hearted, energetic bewilderment.
This theatre company is bursting at the seems with talented youngsters from 6 to 19 years old and it’s a fun and lively night out seeing them pull this slick production out of their collective, magical hats. Playbox’s Alice through the Looking Glass is an upbeat, beautifully crafted, show that leaves you grinning like a cheshire cat.
Tickets available for shows this week from https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/playboxtheatre/e-lbejjx
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