The set in Balch Arena Theater for "Alice in Wonderland" welcomes audiences with a rich, vivid and vivacious background. The crew has painted the floor is beautifully with a periwinkle blue teapot and a chessboard with not plain, bold colors but amusing phrases like "pawn is the most underrated." Blocks resembling a deck of cards, a book and dice that frame the stage, as well as quick?moving panels, make for a lively and engaging set.
At one of the most entertaining moments in the play, the cast becomes a part of the set, creating the illusion that Alice is swimming in her own tears.
Eva Le Gallienne and Florida Friebus adapted this interpretation of Lewis Carroll's famous story. Director NadavHirsh, a senior, plays with the imagination of the audience to keep them engaged throughout.
Hirsh's actors repeat the script's puns and plays on words, ensuring the audience's cogs stay moving and that they stay intellectually involved in the action.
The directors have artfully reproduced well?known images from the play, such as the Cheshire Cat scene. The Cat, played in this production by junior Jenna Wells, wears a velvet robe and an enchanting mask. In a later scene the Caterpillar - played by junior Rachel Adams - is draped in several shades of green. Alice herself, played by Brooke Weber, wears a classic blue dress with a white apron. The costumes in this production, designed by Marisa Shapiro (who is also the Director of Production for 3Ps), are as vibrant as the set.
Audience members can find their inner child as children's music plays over the characters playing and running across the stage in one of the play's opening scenes.
Freshmen Tyler Beardsley and Tim Kou play the idiosyncratic pair of the Mouse and White Rabbit and the rest of the cast manages to be equally as hilarious. The cast feeds on the energy of each of the actors to keep the play vibrant and energetic from scene to scene.
Hirsh and the prodcution's assistant director, freshman Tori Otten, were focused on the idea of identity as they produced the play.
"One of the reasons why we double cast and triple cast was because of this theme" says Otten, "In Wonderland, you can take on any identity you want." This theme is reiterated in the script when the Duchess states to our young protagonist that "everything's got a moral if only you can find it."
From a wacky Mad Hatter played by senior Jacob Passy, who is also a new media editor for the Tufts Daily to freshman Michele Herzog's Queen of Hearts, this version of 'Alice' brings out the best in an old favorite. The production will run tonight through Saturday in the Balch Arena Theatre. Performances start at 8 p.m. and tickets can be purchased for $7 in person from the Aidekman Arts Center Box Office or by telephone at 617?627?3493.
