For its autumn student production, George C. Marshall’s Statesmen Theatre presented “Adventures in Wonderland,” adapted from the timeless Lewis Carroll works “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass.” On its surface, Alice’s story is of a girl, distanced from her own family, who falls down a hole into a world all her own and not hers at all, all at once. Yet more deeply, the “Adventures” serve as an opportunity to reflect on themes such as escapism, self-esteem, growing up, and the magic as well as logic of this world. As Alice travels through the world below the world above, she transforms both physically and in maturity and self-confidence, both through potions and trying circumstances. Led by the White Rabbit, she traverses larger-than-life perils in a way that ever builds her character. The story is wrought with complex symbols to which each reader or viewer can find personal real-world parallels. The Marshall production faithfully fulfilled all of these expectations of the tale.
In the adaptation by Marshall’s theatre director, Ahmad Maaty, we meet Alice while still in the “real world,” where she is accused of having a wild imagination. She is told to stay innocent as lon g as she can. However, Addi Reeves as Alice exclaims, “I’d like to do wild things, like climb trees!” Once she has entered a fantasy wonderland, however, she is less comfortable about being in a world with no rules. A creature says to Alice: “Your rules don’t apply here.” “If the rules don’t hold, everything falls apart!” retorts Alice. Here it should be remembered that “Alice” author Lewis Carroll was a logician and mathematician and that the notion of logic is an important aspect of the story.
Mr. Maaty explains what he wished to convey in his choice and production of “Adventures in Wonderland:” “I wanted to create a playground for imagination, storytelling, and adventure. I think in this era and at the high school stage of life there is this absence of play and a complete rejection of your child self. There is a great desire or even push to grow up faster than we are ready, and while the world and its happenings make a lot of this inevitable, I wanted to send a message that it’s okay to be present with your child self even through adulthood, to make sure you are experiencing life at its fullest and also giving yourself a softer landing when transitioning to adulthood.”
Joining Miss Reeves in the production were Caroline Shelton as the White Rabbit (ubiquitous throughout the performance), Fiona Regal as the Queen of Hearts, and Alexander Beam as the famous Cheshire Cat. Ava Krasner took on no fewer than three parts: Elizabeth, Gryphon, and Jabberwocky Flame. Ashley Thompson served as flautist, but she was also the composer of several of the musical pieces used in the production.
Multi-colored lighting and props of a very large heart as well as stage designs of hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades from a deck of cards lent a special atmosphere to the performance. Costumes were not only very good but also referenced different approaches to “Alice in Wonderland” over the years: there was the “Alice blue gown” approach of the classic Disney animated feature of having Alice dressed in long blue dress and white apron, while black and dark purple costumes and umbrellas at another moment suggested the Tim Burton-Johnny Depp 2010 live action cinematic interpretation.
“Adventures in Wonderland” has now closed, but theatre performance plans at George C. Marshall High School are set for spring: Mr. Maaty likes to alternate between types of shows, so the spring student production will be the musical “Footloose,” which will be held at the Statesmen Theatre from April 23 — May 5.
