Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

Synopsis

On a glorious summer's afternoon, young Alice happens upon a smartly dressed white rabbit looking at his watch and muttering 'I'm too late!'. This not being an everyday occurrence, she follows him down a nearby rabbit hole - and falls into Wonderland. On her weird and wonderful journey to find her way home, she meets an array of the most extraordinary characters - including the Cheshire Cat, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty and the Mock Turtle - all of whom have fantastical tales to tell the young explorer. Both of Lewis Carroll's timeless children's stories - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There - are magically brought to life. The amazing Lobster Quadrille, the Queen of Hearts' infamous croquet match and the Mad Hatter's Tea Party are just a few of the remarkable events that you will see in this new family production.

Our Review:

14 November 2001

Note: This review dates from November 2001 and the production's original London run.

The programme tries to explain 'How it Happened' thus: "A cloudless, golden July afternoon. One moment Alice was enjoying a picnic on the riverbank with her sisters, the next she was falling down a rabbit hole. Down, and down, and down, and...."

My own account, however, would have it as follows: "A crisp, dark November evening. One moment Mark was enjoying a pre-show chat in the Barbican Theatre with his fellow critics, the next he was falling down into a vacuum of drama. Down, and down, and down, and..."

The first show of the festive season (and hasn't it arrived early this year?) lands with a deep, dull, earnest thud. The RSC's new dramatisation of Lewis Carroll's two Alice books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass, and what Alice Found There (1871), emerges as part panto, part musical, but altogether a fiasco. <...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 16 January 2002:

I was amused to read in the new RSC mailing that this abysmal show is playing to sold-out houses in Stratford. No press reviews were quoted and none appear on the RSC website. I wonder why?...

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