By Olly Johnson
For their first performance, Stage Right Productions assembled the William Glennon version of “Alice in Wonderland”. This version of “Alice in Wonderland” takes the approach of a theater crew trying to find an Alice actress to continue the show. This is an exciting direction, but it doesn’t get fleshed out enough to change the story drastically. As with most Stage Right productions, the main highlight is the actors. Alice (played by Hope Songer) was absolutely amazing, with most of the lines being full of curiosity and charm. The White Rabbit (played by George McBride) took some time for me to like, but eventually won me over the course of the show with his whimsy, especially in the second act. However, my favorite performance is from the Queen of Hearts (played by Corey Saffer). His performance instantly stole the show with how manic yet prideful the Queen was; it was a real delight to watch. One of the best things about Stage Right’s “Alice in Wonderland” is how many small details are sprinkled throughout the production. From minor characters having silent conversations and doing something in the background while the main characters are talking, to the way Alice’s clothes have various patches sewn in (in fact, most, if not all the costumes are spectacular), to how the White Rabbit jumps off the stage with what can best be described as a flutter. The show is filled with all of these little bits of details that added just a little extra charm to the performance.
There was a distinct change between the first and second acts. The second act had more memorable characters such as the Mad Hatter (played by Elliot Martinez) and the Queen of Hearts, and far more fun and interesting scenes like the croquet game and the trial. Other than the scene with the really fun duo of the Dutchess (played by Abby Trapp) and the Cook (played by Jojo Beaber) and the opening scene, most of the first act was extremely confusing (on purpose). An unfortunate lowlight was the falling down the rabbit hole scene. It was ambitious, and I can see where they were going with it. The use of flashlights made it feel chaotic and hectic. However, the sound of the footsteps of the people holding the flashlights made it difficult to hear what Alice was saying, which left the audience confused and lost for the following 10 minutes during and after the scene. This can also be due to how the scene starts. The White Rabbit ran on stage, proclaimed he was late, and ran into this hole to the left of the stage. Alice approaches it, but walks away from the hole saying reasons she can’t enter the rabbit hole. But she convinces herself to enter the hole verbally, but never returns back to the hole. What this results in is the chaos of the rabbit hole scene coming out of nowhere, causing far much more confusion as to what is happening.
However, this doesn’t take away from the quality expected from Stage Right Productions. It was still a fun watch and would recommend seeing it if possible on either September 5th-7th. If you missed it, the next big performance is “Hamlet” in October, which is set to be as good as the prior productions. Though there is more to improve on, Stage Right’s “Alice in Wonderland” is a fun production that is full of charm and care.
The Golden Trident 