Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at the Orange Tree Theatre, staged by the OT Young Company, is a high-energy reimagining that prioritises invention, immediacy, and youthful conviction over the slipperier universality of Lewis Carroll’s original. It is a production brimming with clever theatricality and commitment, even as its conceptual choices occasionally narrow rather than expand the story’s reach.
This adaptation makes an immediate and decisive shift away from the familiar image of Alice as a bored, privileged Victorian child drifting away from her tutor’s history lessons. Instead, Chinonyerem Odimba reframes Alice as a socially and environmentally conscious teen, painfully aware of the state of the world around her and actively positioning – othering – herself outside her peer group, believing herself to be acutely moral and intellectual. The production is clearly invested in giving Alice a stronger voice and greater agency, interpreting the source material as a series of events which simply happen to her.
One of the production’s more intriguing choices is the use of multiple Alices: a central, fully realised protagonist, an opinionated, proud Alice who mirrors social judgement, and a mousy, anxious Alice who nonetheless adapts most quickly to Wonderland’s logic and the idea of senseless fun. This fragmentation, while allowing different responses to strangeness and selfhood to literally coexist, periodically diffuses emotional focus and comes off as primarily gimmicky.
While the production’s intention lends the character modern relevance in contemporary Britain, it sometimes manifests in ways that feel overly insistent rather than illuminating, even risk tipping her into something closer to a “pick me” archetype. Alice can drift into a self-consciously virtuous register that simultaneously expands her emotional range and reduces the sense of curiosity and openness that defines the original character.
This tension runs through the entire production. By rooting Wonderland so firmly in the language and concerns of modern Britain, the show gains specificity and urgency but sacrifices some of the original’s strangeness and universality. Carroll’s Wonderland has endured precisely because it resists fixed moral positions; here, meaning is more assertively signposted.
The Orange Tree’s intimate, in-the-round space is used to its absolute fullest, its four doors and balcony creating a sense of unpredictability that keeps eye and mind alert. Simple theatrical ideas land with clarity: the garden door becomes a simple headband with a golden rectangle and keyhole; Alice’s size change after drinking “Drink Me” is rendered through puppetry; her fall down the rabbit hole is suggested through glowing stick-doors.
However, a crucial note about accessibility: this production makes extensive use of strobe lighting and rapid lighting changes. This oversight may meaningfully affect viewing experience, and would ideally be prefaced with clearer warnings.
Character work is energetic and sustained. The young actors remain impressively in character throughout, even during the interval, when they roam the space offering riddles, dances, and playful provocations. This immersive approach builds a communal, mischievous atmosphere, making the audience feel complicit in the nonsense in the lead-up to the tea party.
The inclusion of original musical numbers adds to the sense of play and nonsense, with both the choreographic timing and the ensemble’s ability to execute them being commendable. But ultimately, the songs remain purely as texture rather than commentary, giving the show momentum without any lingering impact.
The OT Young Company’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a production that thinks hard and cares deeply, even when its conceptual confidence outpaces its subtlety. Its inventive staging, ensemble commitment, and willingness to take risks are all commendable. However, the rendition fails to have a lasting impression beyond lights and fun, and both the didacticism and flamboyance come off as trivialising.
Inspired by Lewis Carroll
Writer: Chinonyerem Odimba
Director: Matt Hassall
Movement director: Liam Francis
Running time: 2h 20min including a 20-minute interval