Alice in Wonderland at the Liverpool Playhouse is only loosely based on the Lewis Carol classic novel so don't come expecting the story that you know and loves as this tale is quite different. The show has a book by Stockroom and is directed by Kate Wasserberg and tells the story of Alice (Paislie Reid) a 15 year old girl from Toxteth. Alice has recently lost her father and to remember him Alice likes to listen to a cassette tape of some of the songs they used to listen to together. Her dads old stereo which she uses to listen to the cassette tape has broken and so Alice attempts to fix it but a slip of the screwdriver sends Alice into a strange new world inside of the stereo. In order to escape this world Alice must fix the stereo from the inside by finding the missing buttons eg. play, record & volume however the stereo speakers the evil queen of charts (Leanne Jones) and her sister the queen of clubz (Natasha Lewis) try to stop Alice by putting several obstacles in her way. Along the way Alice meets several new friend's all of whom bare a resemblance to some of the classic characters from the Lewis Carrol novel.
The show was a lot of fun but it is aimed more at children than adults, it has a slight pantomime feel to it as well with all the audience participation and the jokes but I guess I should have expected that given that the show was produced by the same people that produce the Liverpool Everyman Pantomime.
The set which was designed by Mark Bailey looked really impressive when it got revealed, it features a giant stereo across the black wall which had bits of tape coming out of the tape deck and lots of wires sticking out. There were also what looked like stereo parts scattered around the stage.
Some of the musicians sit on top of the stereo set piece however most of the musicians also play characters in the show so play their instruments down on the stage. The fact that most of the cast not only play multiple roles but also play multiple instruments just shows how extremely talent this cast is. The costumes which were also designed by Mark Bailey were all quite simple but they needed to be as most of the cast played multiple instruments and so needed to still be able to play them in their costumes. The 2 queens costumes reminded me a bit of a pantomime dame with the big skirts and big hair and headpieces.
One of the highlights of the show was how the Jabberwock was portrayed, it looked amazing and had the whole audience laughing out loud.
The thing I loved the most about this show was the music, the music and lyrics for the show were done by Vikki Stone and she has done a fantastic job. The show features original songs which were inspired by the best of British pop and are all extremely catchy. One of my favourite songs is the opening number for act two and is called "You Are Not Invited" which is sung by the Queen of Charts who is played by Leanne Jones. Leanne has an amazing voice which is so powerful and she performs this song brilliantly. As well as some up beat catchy songs the show also features some beautiful ballads.
Alice In Wonderland is a great modern retelling of a classic story, with amazingly catch songs that you will be singing all the way home. Its a great fun family show which is not to be missed this summer, I rated the show 4 Stars.
Alice In Wonderland is on at The Liverpool Playhouse until 22nd July you can purchase tickets by clicking on the button below.
Alice In Wonderland is on at The Theatre Royal Plymouth from the 1st - 5th August you can purchase tickets by clicking on the button below.
Photo Credit - The Other Richard
*Our tickets for this show were kindly gifted in exchange for an honest review
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