Theatre News

Octagon spends Christmas with Alice in Wonderland

The Octagon in Bolton offers and alternative to the traditional pantomime this Christmas.

Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland
© Octagon Theatre

The Octagon Theatre Bolton presents a brand new adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

The theatre has teamed up with Michael Vale, to create a festive show, complete with original songs.

In her pursuit of a rabbit in a hurry, Alice finds herself tumbling into another world, a world quite different from the one she knows – where March Hares take tea, caterpillars give puzzling advice, and a grinning Cheshire Cat appears and disappears like magic.

The cast includes Sarah Vezmar (recent lead in the Refugee Boy Company for WYP & UK Tour) as Alice; teen favourite Alex Sawyer (Alfie in the award-winning House of Anubis, Lime Pictures/Nickelodeon); Emily Butterfield (An August Bank Holiday Lark, Northern Broadsides, Topsy and Tim, CBeebies); Barbara Hockaday (Love Story, the Octagon Theatre, The Threepenny Opera national tour); Russell Morton (Bent, Landor Theatre/Tabard Theatre, You Once Said Yes, The Roundhouse); Offue Okegbe (As You Like It, UK Tour/Shakespeare At The Tobacco Factory); and Jack Quarton (also of An August Bank Holiday Lark, Northern Broadsides) all as re-imagined and otherworldly Wonderland characters.

Adapted by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, the Octagon’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland promises that it will be unlike any version that’s gone before.

Octagon Associate Director, and Director of Alice in Wonderland, Elizabeth Newman, comments: "Alice in Wonderland is a beloved children’s story that generations of families will have known and shared over many, many years. This new adaptation will remain true to the well-known and much-loved characters that are so familiar to us all, but with delightful twists and additions to the tale that will put the Octagon stamp on it.

Alice in Wonderland will be at the Octagon from 14 November 2014 – 10 January 2015.