Play Review: ‘Alice’

ABBEDAM Productions, an extracurricular production company of drama students at the University of Alberta, debuted Alice by Laura Wade on October 27.

Directed by drama graduate Sarah Dolman, Wade’s version adds elements of grief and darkness to the mad world of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Alice grieves the death of her brother while trying to find her way back home. 

What the show got right were its imaginative and nonsensical elements. The ensemble moved together in a way that was satisfying to watch on stage and produced on-point comedic timing. Actors’ on-stage presence and chemistry also allowed for fun musical numbers and even short dance performances. 

But of course, neither the ensemble nor the central characters are of any help in Alice’s quest out of Wonderland. 

We see the classic big and small potions, tea with the Mad Hatter (Miles Chan) and the croquet match in front of the Queen of Hearts (Rose Markovich). 

The croquet match is another highlight. All cast members are on stage and their chemistry is nothing but impressive. As Alice (Madeline Podlubny) tries to make sense of the nonsensical situations she finds herself in, the characters are all frantic and bring performances to life through facial expressions and body language. 

The play concludes with Alice ultimately working out how to live with her grief. Her heavy feelings won’t easily go away, but she can process them day by day while seeing joy in little moments. 

While Podlubny excels in performing emotional scenes and portraying Alice’s childlike qualities, the script sometimes fails her with its poor pacing or writing.

Some scenes go on for too long without adding any new relevant information to the plot. Others feature only one or two characters and fall flat because of missing chemistry. 

Alice’s lines and behaviour are also greatly repetitive. While she is intelligent for her age, her character is often reduced to merely crying or being confused. The script causes Alice to lack meaningful traits, despite the story being centred around her grief. 

Other characters’ lines followed a similar fashion. Humour quickly becomes repetitive as the show goes on. 

Despite problems with pacing and repetition, Alice is overall a fun time. However, it would benefit from being shorter. Cast performances help compensate for the show’s flaws, even if they cannot entirely overcome them.