Nobody does theatre like This Is My Theatre. They have crafted a style unique to them which is fascinating and brilliant in equal measure. Their way of telling stories has the elegance of simplicity while cleverly hiding detailed depth, always moving and flowing, never dipping in energy. Their work is simply always outstanding. And this latest offering of the classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is yet another triumph.
As a family show its aim clearly includes children, young and old, including all of us adults of any age. You can easily get a bag of sweets with your picnic and remember being enchanted by these magical and crazy stories when you were little. We all empathise with naive and forthright Alice, we all go on the bonkers journey with her, marvelling at her becoming smaller and then larger again so many times by eating and drinking magic things. We gallivant alongside her, holding her hand, wondering at the Cheshire Cat’s grin, trying to answer the Caterpillar’s Question of “who are you?” and try to avoid having our heads chopped off by the changeable and comically scary Queen of Hearts.
This adaptation captures so many of the original tales from the book plus borrowing one or two from the sequel, some of which are missing from other versions: delightfully refreshing when you have seen many. It is packed, continuously, but not overburdened: the balance is just right. The stories unfold before your eyes in a story book constant narrative that keeps you rivetted throughout: scene changes happen as part of it, the singing adds another depth, you may even take the refrain home with you. The set is strikingly and appropriately off centre, black and white unequal stripes are a theme, including Alice’s legs.
There are so many lovely moments which are both incredibly clever staging and fire up childlike enthusiasm and wonder, including Alice falling down the rabbit hole using hoops, her seeing and clutching a parasol, seeing a floating clock, tea service, books and more. The staging of the way she gets smaller and larger in relation to her surroundings, and her tears becoming a wave of water are absolutely gorgeous. The puppetry work also fits perfectly with this style. The tea party staging and constant moving round is fabulous and perhaps best of all is the Caterpillar with three actors moving together: three arms moving in unison each side, even drumming their fingers in exactly the same way. It all creates such interesting pictures that linger in your mind long after the show. Such attention to detail shows a company that cares about every single aspect of their production because they want to do things the best way possible for their audience.
To tell Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with only four people is no mean feat. Lily Smith leads as Alice in a beautiful balance of naive and curious, adding a quiet feisty depth too, just as the novel describes. Polly Jones, Niall McDaid and Jack Prince multi roll through all the other roles, instantly recognisable as over 20 different characters including the cards painting the rose red, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Mad Hatter, March Hare and Dormouse and a fabulously fierce and funny Queen of Hearts. The role switching, the movement work which both creates lovely pictures and is timed to perfection, and Chloe Bond’s beautiful direction make this a stunning piece of theatre, brilliantly conceived and produced, one to make you smile and remember how good it is to remember to play sometimes, whatever your age. Bonkers and uplifting, funny and clever: quintessential and inimitable This Is My Theatre at their best.
Davis Park, Hove, 11 Aug 2026
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland tours until September 13th 2026 Link
Photos credit: Ethan Taylor
