Review: Toronto's Bad Hats' 'ALICE IN WONDERLAND' is worth the time to take a trip
A big thank you to Bad Hats Theatre for taking anxiety over the Coronavirus pandemic and locking it away for an hour and a half so that I could enjoy a world of the ‘curiouser and curiouser’ as heard so often in this Alice’s adventures in Wonderland. Bad Hats’ Artistic Director Fiona Sauder, who also appears in the production, wrote the following in the playbill note that rang true for me: “I wanted to write a piece about leaning into the unknown, embracing the change that lives there, and believing that our greatest power lies in our curiosity.”
This time of Covid has made all of us lean into the unknown and I, for one, am trying to embrace that change that lives there. Some days are good, and some days are challenging; however, just as Alice is not afraid to keep asking questions, I for one have learned that asking questions can sometimes, but not always, be a positive thing as we all try to make sense of what has occurred while emerging obviously changed from this pandemic.
In Bad Hats’ production, we enter a classroom with no teacher present and students who are left to their own whims of their various natures until the teacher arrives late. For adults to play children (and then some of the iconic characters in Wonderland I remember from the story) that is a grand task because there is the danger of satirizing and going over the top into terrible unbelievability, but I didn’t find any of that in the opening. Director Sue Miner duly paid attention to ensure a realistic characterization from this nine-person cast as I enjoyed very much what I was seeing in the opening classroom setting.
The ‘contemporary spin’ on this classic children’s tale finds heroine Alice finishing a school assignment while sitting in a corner at a desk. While trying to quickly finish the work, Alice’s imagination leads her out the classroom window and fall down the rabbit hole while chasing a rabbit. This new world in the Bad Hats’ production is made even more delightful with tuneful ditties co-composed by Landon Doak and Victor Pokinko. To see the actors playing various musical instruments was another bonus to showcase their stage versatility. Once again, I’m thankful Music Director Reza Jacobs worked with this cast to ensure the song lyrics could be heard and understood because they also add to the witty cleverness nicely accentuated with spirited choreography by Cameron Carver.
With all the safety Covid protocols in place right now, I was far more concerned how this Alice would be able to maintain six feet distance for the performers’ health especially when singing is incorporated, and the human aerosol that everyone emits in doing so. I was relieved when I saw what was accomplished to ensure artist safety and how it was done unobtrusively.
Many audience members have remarked about the ‘chair-ography’ in Come from Away which is seamlessly incorporated. In this Alice, that same movement is carefully accomplished using screens on rollers that are so quietly moved around the playing space and positioned succinctly while separating the performers who are about to sing that it didn’t detract my attention in the slightest. It all just felt and looked natural to me, and that was wonderful to watch. Kudos to Director Miner and the cast to ensure the set movement is adeptly timed that we are taken from one moment to the next. I loved the effect of a long hall before Alice is ushered off to meet the Red Queen
Logan Raju Cracknell’s lighting sharply accentuates various scenes when Alice meets the extremely odd denizens of Wonderland. Ming Wong’s contemporary costume design at times very simply captured the essence of the characters. For example, the appearance of the Cheshire cat was adroitly handled simply with the use of a multi coloured tail and headpiece. At other times, Ms. Wong’s costume design was also elegant most noteworthy in the ruby red gown worn by the Queen which was so large that it took a few members of the cast to ensure the dress’s train was showcased.
Performances are engagingly pleasing for this family-based musical story. Several of the cast members play more than one role but for the sake of space, I may only comment on one character they play. As Alice, Tess Benger captures the sometimes naïve, sometimes quizzical Alice with just the correct teaspoon of repeated childhood questioning on why things are the way they appear to be. As the running late teacher Mr. Charles and the Rabbit in Wonderland, Matt Pilipiak securely creates two believable individuals who become fixated on how quickly time passes and how important it is to get things done. Vanessa Sears is a regal and not to be messed with Red Queen of Wonderland.
As Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (two of my favourites from Alice), Fiona Sauder and Landon Doak amusedly grab the comical bantering with polished ease. Jonathan Tan nicely creates a mysterious Cheshire Cat with just a basic costume design (and he also sings an extremely moving song at the end of the production). Phoebe Hu becomes an adorable Duck and Unicorn. Richard Lam’s and Jacob Macinnis’s work as Lily and Caterpillar effectively emphasize how the strangeness of Alice’s time in this new world of Wonderland changes her perspective to the world of which she knows and how important her part is along with everyone else.
Final comments: Bad Hats’ Alice in Wonderland is great fun especially if families want to introduce their children to the enchanting and diversified wonderment of the world of live theatre. See it online as it’s good family entertainment.
Bad Hats’ Alice in Wonderland streams online until Sunday April 18. For tickets, go to www.soulpepper.ca. Schools are also encouraged to incorporate the production into their lessons as there are pre and post activities along with work which highlights the student understanding of the production.
To learn more about Soulpepper visit www.soulpepper.ca. To learn more about Bad Hats Theatre, visit www.badhatstheatre.com.
Photo of Tess Benger and the Ensemble by JOHN HOLOSKO AND ROBERT METCALFE.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll.
Adapted by Fiona Sauder.
Composed by Landon Doak and Victor Pokinko
Cast (in alphabetical order): Tess Benger, Landon Doak, Phoebe Hu, Richard Lam, Jacob Macinnis, Matt Pilipiak, Fiona Sauder, Vanessa Sears, Jonathan Tan,
Director: Sue Miner; Music Director: Reza Jacobs; Choreographer: Cameron Carver; Costume Design: Ming Wong; Lighting Design: Logan Raju Cracknell; Adaptor: Fiona Sauder; Dramaturg: Matt Pilipiak.