The drama department opened its own rendition of the timeless classic, Alice in Wonderland, yesterday, with a fresh and exciting scene structure and a delightful mixture of script and improvisation.
Unlike that of any other play by EPiC this year, Alice in Wonderland’s set is dynamic – the audience is constantly moving through the halls of Redwood to different sets, following the path that they are assigned to upon purchase of their ticket.
Upon buying one’s ticket, he or she is handed a card, the suit of which (hearts, clubs, diamonds or spades) determines how he or she experiences the play.
In EPiC’s rendition of Alice in Wonderland, there are five Alices – one lead Alice, played by Katie Nichols, and four others, played by Carly Van Liere, Leah Cohen, Violet Kelly-Andrews and Danielle Fisk.
As one group of audience members is led out of one scene and into another, another group of audience members follows, being led to their previous circumstances, which adds to the hilarious and utter calamity that EPiC tries to portray.
At first, I made the mistake of attempting to make sense of the plot of EPiC’s Alice in Wonderland, but between bird-people squawking at me as I walked through the halls and fish-people staring at me through bushes as I watched a cross-dresser play croquet with a lawn flamingo, I let myself get lost and immersed in the insanity.
The sets of Alice in Wonderland were like a war-zone of nonsensical fun, without a moment of silence at any point. It seems that the point of the play isn’t to tell a story, but to give the audience a unique experience that they won’t soon forget.
There are few parts of the play to express discontent over. Experiences are occasionally, however, marred by fumbled lines and a lack of projection, as well as members of the tech-staff accidentally passing through a scene in the confusion of its progress. These flaws, however, are seldom noticeable, and usually made up for by improvisation on the part of the actors.
EPiC’s Alice in Wonderland will be playing from today until Saturday, March 23, partially in the Little Theater, starting at 7:30.
