Having been to a number of productions at the Bristol Old Vic, almost all of which I have thoroughly enjoyed, I entered the theatre with eager anticipation at the prospect of seeing the theatre’s Christmas production Alice in Wonderland. The theatre was noisy and bustling with children, which added to the general excitement and set the festive mood. Sadly the build-up to the show was not altogether mirrored in the performance itself.

 The actors came on stage about five minutes before the start of the performance and began to draw on a large whiteboard that formed the back of the set. The rest of the set stayed within this theme of almost sketchily-drawn designs which I can only presume were meant to reflect the childlike nature of the piece, based on Alice’s games and imagination which take her to Wonderland. However I felt that everything looked rather unfinished and gave the production a slightly amateur feel.

The production was an interesting mixture between acting and singing which left you wondering if it was a musical or not. The acting was of a fairly high standard with notable performances from Kevin Wathen as the Mad Hatter and Howard Coggins as the Mock Turtle but throughout there was a feeling that the performers weren’t quite ready and weren’t entirely sure of themselves which sadly was conveyed to the audience.

 That is not to say that the performance was without merit, there were some highly amusing moments which worked well such as the Cheshire Cat’s ‘Tony Blair-esque’ grin, a collapsing house and a fantastic lobster quadrille. It is telling however, that the biggest laugh came after the Mock Turtle fell into the giant soup pot and a child in the audience shouted ‘Daddy, how is he going to get out?’ This production certainly explores the darker side of the classic story, with the Mad Hatter wearing a straight jacket and other more sinister moments, which were rather frightening. As such, I would not recommend it for children under the age of eight.

It is worth seeing? The whole evening was a ‘curious’ experience to use the famous line. Some moments were very good and the cast worked well together. The props used, in particular those in the scenes of Alice’s shrinking and growing, were particularly effective. However, I left the theatre feeling somewhat confused; the play ended rather abruptly and the bizarre mixture of singing and acting gave the evening an extremely surreal feel to it. It won’t leave you feeling warm or Christmassy, but if you are an ‘Alice’ fan, you may find this take on the story and interesting one.  

Total: 3/5

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