Curiouser and curiouser! In Wonderland will be a spectacular re-imagining of a familiar classic.
“When I used to read fairy tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one!”
It’s a well-known story, beloved by generations: a clever young girl spends the day with her siblings and her cherished cat, when, in a state of drowsy boredom, she spies a rabbit in a waistcoat who checks his pocket watch, and then runs off. What else is a curious child to do but follow him down the rabbit hole?
Based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Alberta Theatre Projects’ In Wonderland remains faithful in its retelling. Commissioned and workshopped in Calgary, the script’s author Anna Cummer has worked closely with Interim Artistic Director, Haysam Kadri, and the artistic team, to create a newly-imagined vaudevillian world that is sure to dazzle and delight fans of every age. But as those familiar with Alberta Theatre Projects’ productions know, an extraordinary display is to be expected. Radically exploring the Martha Cohen stage through projections and lighting, fantastical physical props and transformative stage pieces, audiences will come to believe - as Alice herself does - that very few things indeed are really impossible.
“The world we are bringing audiences into is like nothing they have ever seen before,” says Haysam Kadri. “After months of theatres being dark, we wanted to give our community the gift of light and spectacle, and transport them into fairy tale world, conjured through theatre magic. It will be a true celebration, fit for the whole family, just in time for the holiday season.”
In Wonderland will feature only three players onstage, portraying all of the characters – Sarah Roa (Actor 1), Natascha Girgis (Actor 2), Graham Percy (Actor 3), with Charlie Gould (Swing). All the fan favourites will be there, from Alice and the White Rabbit, Caterpillar, Cheshire Cat, through to The Queen of Hearts. With an intricate relationship between the costumes and set, the artists will be transformed through inspired wardrobe pieces, masks and puppets.
Hanne Loosen, a Calgary-based theatre designer with European roots, joins the production as set and costume designer. Well-known to Alberta Theatre Projects’ audiences, her visionary imagination was responsible for designing the incredible sets and costumes for ATP’s 2019 holiday sensation The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and most recently, the conceptual park design set for ATP’s first live show back in the Martha Cohen Theatre, Fall 2021’s Stealing Sam.
“The overall silhouette we’ve created is influenced by an Origami-inspired projection backdrop. With flat planes and angular abstractions of form, the set and costumes follow the thread of that aesthetic as we move through the wild, and sometimes outrageous, world of Wonderland.
“It’s so fulfilling to be working on a play that is fantastic in its storytelling, and asks all design elements to employ the power of imagination,” said Loosen.
Alberta Theatre Projects is delighted to share that In Wonderland will be going on tour to Richmond, BC in April, 2022.
Audiences can find themselves in the middle of a fairy tale, this holiday season, from November 23 through December 26, 2021. Tickets are on sale now: albertatheatreprojects.com.
