Alice, a typical modern teenager, trades places with Mary-Ann, the Wonderland version of herself. Now Alice must travel through a fantastical, psychedelic dreamscape, challenged by Carroll’s canonical characters every step of the way. Transforming every time she eats or drinks, Alice is played by six different actresses, each evoking a different aspect of adolescence.

ALICE VS. WONDERLAND is a fast-paced, whimsical and at the same time frightening adaption of the classical tale, remixing the original tones and accents of the story into a new, modern experience.

Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc. (www.playscripts.com)

“I like to describe Alice vs. Wonderland as a “remix,” not an adaptation”, says Brendan Shea about his modern version of the classical Victorian tale at the original program of the piece. “It renews, it refreshes, it reevaluates the original.”

“Wonderland, to me, represents the gauntlet each of us must go through on our way to adulthood. Leaving childhood behind is not a happy dream, but a struggle. Carroll understood this, on some level. Each of the wacky characters Carroll created plays a role in Alice’s journey to self-realization. And they are all adversaries. In order to progress, she must either defeat or evade them. The clash reminded me of a video game, hence the title, Alice vs. Wonderland.

Like any work of fiction, video games deal in wish fulfillment. They provide dreams on demand: the player explores a strange world, masters its rules and accomplishes the impossible. Carroll’s narrative structure is familiar to anyone who grew up with Super Mario or Mega Man—it’s a grab bag of surreal episodes, each with a puzzle to solve or an enemy to defeat.”

Brendan Shea is a 2010 graduate of the A.R.T./MXAT Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University.