Riccarton Players

Press, 9 March 1984, Page 4

Riccarton Players

“Alice,” adapted from Lewis Carroll, directed by Richard Huber and Martin Phelan for the Riccarton Players at the MiU Theatre, Wise Street March 7 to 17. Runninc time: 8 p.m. to 935 p.m. Reviewed by Gerrit Bahlman. How do you perceive Alice and her adventures if you are an adult and the presentation is intense and surrealristic? What happens to the charming childrens tale? The Riccarton Players have provided an illuminating answer. A cast which has spent a number of holidays performing for children now introduces adults to that world, t The perception changes. The underlying fun is still there but murky overtones begin to dominate. The White Rabbit

grows into a bullying threat and the petulance becomes arrogant. The adult vision of the children’s world is now perverted by violence, inconsistency, and a large dollop of the insane.

The troupe of performers has gone to extraordinary lengths to capture the faint air of intimidation and other worldliness. The shrunken Alice is confronted by all the familiar characters: the Red Queen (Ursula Cheer), the White Queen (Tania McVicar), the Mad Hatter and Humpty Dumpty (Shane Sammon), the March Hare (Nick Kearney), and Alice (Stephanie ffieed). Trudi Urlwin and Mary-Anne Spence , completed the zany cast While tfae performers outnumbered the paying audi-

ence, the energy and effectiveness of the production were undenied. The entire theatre space including the foyer was used. Patrons were hustled hither and yon to follow Alice as she weaved her way through the inexplicable. Original music written by Shane Sampson and sung by him and Glenda Cooke, as the White Rabbit, was combined with a wide range of taped music from the psychedelic 60s such as Jim Hendrix’s “Star-Spangled Banner.” Atmosphere was the production’s strong point This is an enterprising production that shows commitment to the backstage company *ad cast It deserves to experience a seating problem of some magnitude.