alice in wonderland @ brixton house
‘‘The multi-award-winning, five-star festive show returns. Poltergeist production weave rap music together with the sights and sounds of Brixton into a hundred-mile-an-hour Christmas adventure’’.
A Brixton House and Poltergeist Production. Directed by Jack Bradfield. Created by Poltergeist.
Cast
Cheyenne Dasri Queen / Mum / Chatter
Gavin Dunn Rabbit / Pigeon / Hammersmith
Rosa Garland Tortoise / Dum / Rat
Tatenda Matsvai Alice
Olivia Woolhouse Ensemble & Understudy
Will Spence Cat / Dee / Nose
Rachel Jones BSL Interpreter
Creative Team
Jack Bradfield Director & Lead Writer
Gerel Falconer Lyricist & Rapperturg
Shankho Chaudhuri Set & Co-Graphic Designer
Debbie Duru Costume Designer
Alice Boyd Composer & Sound Designer
Rajiv Pattani Lighting Designer
Israel Kujore Illustrator & Co-Graphic Designer
Rebecca Wilson Fight Director
Lucy Wordsworth Fight Director
Amber Ruby Associate Director
Sophie Lincoln Associate Costume Designer
David Lewington Associate Sound Designer
Bolu Dairo Costume Supervisor
Bob Bagley Production Manager
Tamasin Cook Company Stage Manager
Danae Crawford Deputy Stage Manager
Africa Blagrove Assistant Stage Manager
Josette Shipp Wardrobe Assistant Stage Manager
Emily Davis Producer for Poltergeist
Supported by NDT Broadgate, the North Wall Arts Centre, the Unity Theatre Trust and the Royal Victoria Hall Foundation.
Review:
Alice in Wonderland at Brixton House is a mad night at the theatre for the whole family. From entering Brixton House and sitting on the Queen’s throne for a festive picture in Wonderland, to entering the immersive insides of the venue on the echo of the classic phrase; See it, Say it Sort it.
This production does a brilliant job of introducing youngsters to both the cruelty and magic of where one’s imagination could take them. When Alice storms off at Brixton Underground Station and leaves her mother in terror by stepping onto the carriage’s swiftly closed doors, our tale begins with anticipation. The transverse staging is one that is rarely used with underrated effects on the audience’s experience; the atmosphere is lovely and the set of a curved capsule and carriage-esque wings as well as multi-purpose seats, is incredibly clever. The touch of having the narrator speak via the speaker of TFL works and kids and adults both feel engaged throughout.
Something to perhaps think about -I am nit-picking here but I believe in attention to detail in the absolute maximum-, is that mother and daughter are already ‘inside the carriage’ while the argument takes place and so the illusion of Alice entering the closed doors is not as clear. I appreciate the space of the venue is limited, but perhaps some visual boundaries in lighting or even sound (for example; a busy crowd in the background outside of the carriage, and the sound of trails inside of the carriage), would help in that transition. Furthermore, it might have been more intentional if there had been more references to the Victoria Line, where Brixton so proudly holds the ending stick off; The queen could be Queen Victoria and the referenced stops could be solely ones that link to/via Brixton.
In terms of the cast, Tatenda Matsvai is brilliant as Alice and wows audiences with her multiple talents and effortless stage presence. Her voice is rich and engaging with just the right grasp of a young leading lady. The development of the characters is evident and one wonders if -for older audiences’ depth- characters like the Rabbit are disguised as mentally ill. It is very useful for children to be exposed to such topics from a young age; whether that is anti-social behaviour, anxiety, social media/phone brainwashing or problems at home and work. Additionally, it felt like the cast’s native accents were encouraged which was a beautiful touch too.
I am still wondering why the term ‘Overgrounder’ was chosen as a label of an intruder…
A theory I have is that when overground, one can see the outside world and be aware of their surroundings even if the train stops. That could be perceived as a negative slur on the underground, where our characters have not seen the light of day in a long time, have no signal, and no awareness of the loop they are endlessly doomed to follow.
The show could perhaps be a bit more ‘Christmas-y’ for the little ones, as the actual concept of Christmas or Santa Claus barely gets mentioned. However, I think what this show offers is incredibly important and special to witness, so much so that maybe it does not necessarily need to be a Christmas season exclusive.
The lyricism is clever and the cast is graciously rising to the challenge of wordy, groovy and meaty tunes. Things like ‘Mind the Gap’ or a song all about the ‘Brixton Market’ could be utilised more but terms like ‘Ali-stocracy’ or ‘Common as Clapham’ hit the spot and win audience appreciation. The choreography could certainly use some work, and I only bring that up because so many other sectors of the show are so beyond local production standards, that polishing the movement direction would elevate the show’s existing potential.
I also wanted to give a massive shoutout to the set design! The transformation of the Rat and Nose through the tube seats and the elevated platform for the Alice x Queen of Hearts duel is of very high standard, leaving the audience on the edge of their seats.
Lastly, Alice’s relationship with her mother is beautifully portrayed and shows loads of different layers of their bond. Furthermore, the same actor double-rolling as mother and Queen is definitely a symbol of kids seeing adults as mean monsters who in reality, are not perfect and only try their best for their kids.
In the words of Alice, we all are just living through the non-sense… but maybe that is not always a bad thing.
