Alice In Wonderland – Poltergeist / Brixton House, London

What an adaptation of the beloved classic in this Christmas show by Poltergeist! An Alice in Wonderland set in Brixton and the London Underground, on at Brixton House until 31 December.

Alice In Wonderland

Theatre company Poltergeist, whose work we have seen once before, have created something really special here. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll’s classic 1865 of children’s literature, is one of those works which holds a special place in our cultural imagination. The Salterton Arts Review has previously been to see exhibitions and artworks inspired by it. And yet the well is not exhausted. Poltergeist, like so many others before, have drawn inspiration from the story of Alice and her adventures underground. Only this time, it’s literally in the Underground. As in the London Underground.

Alice argues with her mother at Brixton station, and jumps onto a train just before it departs. She’s studying Alice in Wonderland at school, so when she starts to meet characters who seem a bit familiar, she thinks she knows what’s going on. Ok fine it’s a tortoise not a mock turtle. A rat and not a dormouse. But there’s enough that’s similar here to ground Alice and give her confidence in facing often nonsensical challenges. Only, as Alice points out to her mother right at the start, the stakes for the original Alice aren’t high enough. It was all a dream? What a cop out! It’s a case of be careful what you wish for: our Alice finds that she can’t wish away what’s happening to her, and has to face her fears head on instead.

A Show For The Whole Family

It’s a bit of a cliché to say that, but in this case it’s true. Jack Bradfield’s adaptation works at different levels. There’s a good mix of funny and mildly scary scenes. There’s a liberal sprinkling of harmless jokes, mostly based on the names of tube stations. And there are also different morals to take away. For younger people there are important messages about being confident and comfortable with yourself and not caring what others think. Also about tackling your problems head on. I found myself pondering whether there’s also something in there about activism against authority? I’ll let you decide that for yourself if you see the show. For older people, there is a very clear imperative to think about the routines you’ve settled into and need to break free from. The relative complexity of the script in a very simple wrapper is a definite strength of the adaptation.

This script is ably acted by a small cast, all of whom apart from Alice (Nkhanise Phiri) play multiple roles. Like the original story, Alice is working out some internal anxieties through the characters she encounters in Wonderland, so Toyin Ayedun-Alase plays the Queen of the Line and Chatter (a Mad Hatter figure) as well as Mum. The standout characters played by the remaining actors include the Tortoise (Rosa Garland), a disembodied Nose (Will Spence) and a commuting Rabbit (Khai Shaw). The cast are animated and committed, with a lot of thought having gone into the physicality of the production.

Powerful Creative Team

In this they are aided by the remainder of the creative team. The set design (Shankho Chaudhuri) is brilliant. When I was last at Brixton House it was for this and I sat in typical raked auditorium-type seating. I couldn’t even tell to begin with if it was the same space, the layout was so different. This time we sat on either side around a stage that recreates an underground train and tunnel, running the length of the theatre with entrances/exits at either side. They’ve even got genuine Victoria Line moquette and fake posters in the distinctive London Underground font.

Lighting by Rajiv Pattani helps define the space and the Wonderland world, blending seamlessly with Alice Boyd’s sound design. The costumes by Debbie Dru are perfect. They even had a Lyricist/Rapperturg (Gerel Falconer) on board to ensure catchy bars and lyrics. The whole thing is flawless – what a team! And what great support they clearly have from Brixton House to make this brand new theatre space their own. This type of partnership will make it a great community asset and incubator for truly creative productions.

Final Thoughts On Alice In Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland is a great Christmas show and a great family show. It’s a lot more than that, too. It’s a great Brixton show. Also a great example of a creative team at the top of their game. It’s just a great show in general. I enjoyed myself immensely, as did the rest of the audience.

There are two things I particularly enjoyed about Alice in Wonderland. One was the polish of the production. Everything had been thought about, down to the smallest details. It made it fun and immersive with nothing to jolt you out of the Wonderland world the cast and creative team had created. The second thing I really enjoyed was the warmth and heart of the production. There are various messages but they combine well, and give a human core around which to wrap the fantastical script. There are emotive moments between the human characters, but also between Alice and some of the characters she meets in Wonderland. The way the audience responded to these shows that this was a shared feeling.

Alice in Wonderland is on until the end of the month. Check for tickets here, and take a look at what else is coming up at Brixton House here.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 5/5

Alice in Wonderland on until 31 December 2022