SNHU’s Drama Club adaptation of ALICE leads the tale into a whole new level of craziness. But, isn’t that the whole point of the story?
On Friday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m., the SNHU Drama club premiered their Fall Production of ALICE on the second floor of the Dining Center.
With their own little “bite” and “drink” of madness, the SNHU Drama transformed Lewis Carroll’s original tale into an expressive performance. Between intense screams, maniacal laughs and colorful use of lights, the cast delivered a performance that kept the audience confused yet entertained.
When asked about the main plot of the story, Steven Bogart, Artist-in-Residence, and Director for the SNHU Drama Club said, “This is the story about Alice’s journey through a world that is not making sense to her and how she is trying to make sense of things that are not sensical.”
Erin Haaga, who mainly played the roles of the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat, said, “It is a little difficult to understand even as the cast, but we had fun”.
Alice in Wonderland is a story that’s well known for being twisted and not at all family-friendly, considering the inspiration that Carroll took for his creation; however, the themes that are explored throughout the story are what made this performance eye-catching.
From Alice’s encounter with the caterpillar until her final meeting with the White Knight, we start seeing characters that seem somehow just like Alice. Alex Wilkinson talked a little bit more about the relation of his character, The White Knight, with Alice.
Wilkinson said, “The White Knight is probably Alice’s creative side and the idea of how she doesn’t want to be alone. Every single character in the play seems to represent different parts of Alice.”
There was a point in the play where the cast interacted with members of the audience in the most comical ways, which left some confused though amused.
When asked about the process of the production, Bogart said, “It was a challenging process. It is a difficult play because it requires a lot of changes, a lot of physicality, a lot of ensemble work that has to be figured out, timed and practiced. It is a random progression of events which makes it even harder as well.”
The performance took a total of 2 months to produce and despite the short amount of time and a shortage of materials to give shape to the play, they were capable of delivering an eye-catching and imaginative performance.
This production was nothing that you have ever experienced. It keeps you entertained, laughing and reflecting on the meaning behind Alice’s tale. Although it’s difficult at the beginning, it surely made the audience realize that our world might not be as different as from Alice’s. Bogart expressed, “This story felt like the perfect interpretation of where we are as a country right now. The politics of the country, people trying to make sense of things and the whole thing about fake news, what’s real and what’s not is what’s causing [the] anxiety that some people have because of the 2016 election. [It] made this play a perfect and interesting way to capture the anxiety of trying to go through a world that is not making sense right now.”
