Alice vs Wonderland

caterpillars

Dutch premiere of Brendan Shea’s surreal adaption of the classic tale

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)

Author’s Note

“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.

The Crew

Producers Tanya de Kruijff, Tulya Kavaklioglu, Huzefa Zaveri, Sarah Fünke, Axel Dietze
Director Tanya de Kruijff
Graphic Design Sarah Fünke, Tulya Kavaklioglu
Set Design Tulya Kavaklioglu, Tanya de Kruijff
Costumes
Tulya Kavaklioglu, Sarah Fünke
Choreography Ingeborg Roete, Tanya de Kruijff, Tulya Kavaklioglu, Veronika Merkel
Motion Graphics Sarah Fünke, Martijn Margé
 Technicians Tanya de Kruijff,  Alexandra Tarcu
 Musical Advisors  Tulya Kavaklioglu, Sufian Sasila, Ingeborg Roete, Tijtse Wolf
 Distribution Piyush Sharma, Annika Rausch, Kea Weinhardt
 Marketing & PR Sarah Fünke
 Volunteer Management Melissa Craggs
 The most amazing volunteers Haoyu Yang, Tijste Wolf, Manuel Ventura, Coco Clements, Alexandra Tarcu

Music used:

“Faded”; by Alan Wlaker, Jesper Borgen, Mood Melodies, Gunnar Greve; Published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing Allegro (Scand) KB & Warner Chappell Music Norway AS

“Oi Wakka Afro Bros 2K15 Remix”; “Oi Wakka Afro Bros 2K15 Remix”; Wirtten by Afro Bros, Vocals by DjorsenBeatZ & DJ DayCard, Published by Afreaka Records

“Runaway”; by Aurora Aksnes & Magnus Aaserud Skylstad; Published by Rolf Budde Musikverlag GMBH & Ultra Music Publishing Europe AG

“Alice’s Theme Song”; Written by Danny Elfman; Published by Walt Disney Records

“Fix You”; Written by Chris Matin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, Will Champion; Published by Parlophone Records

“Painting the Roses Red/ March of the Cards”; Written by Bob Hilliard & Sammy Fain; Published by Walt Disney Records

“Me Too”; Written by Megan Trainor, Eric Frederic, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Jason Desrouleaux, and Peter Svensson; Published by Sony Music Entertainment

The Cast

Veronika Merkel
Veronika Merkel
as MARY ANN,
CHESHIRE CAT,
BLACK DAHLIA,
LORY
Sarah Fünke
Sarah Fünke
as ALICE 1,
QUEEN OF HEARTS,
FLOWER
Tulya Kavaklıoğlu
Tulya Kavaklıoğlu
as ALICE 2,
CATERPILLAR 1,
SEVEN OF HEARTS,
DOOR 3,
FLOWER
Melissa Craggs
Melissa Craggs
as ALICE 3,
FIVE OF HEARTS
Ingeborg Roete
Ingeborg Roete
as ALICE 4,
TWO OF HEARTS,
DODO,
FLOWER
Kea Weinhardt
Kea Weinhardt
as ALICE 5,
DOOR 2,
FLOWER
Annika Rausch
Annika Rausch
as ALICE 6,
CATERPILLAR 2,
DUCK
Andrea Marchese
Andrea Marchese
as WHITE RABBIT
Burhan Pagdhiwala
Burhan Pagdhiwala
as MARCH HARE,
PAT THE LIZARD
Piyush Sharma
Piyush Sharma
as MAD HATTER,
TWEEDLEDEE,
MOUSE
Huzefa Zaveri
Huzefa Zaveri
as DORMOUSE,
WHITE KNIGHT,
KING OF HEARTS
Ashwin Sinai Netravalkar
Ashwin Sinai Netravalkar
as TWEEDLEDUM,
KNAVE OF HEARTS,
DOOR 1

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

Many thanks to your generous supporters:

Haoyu Yang, Axel Dietze, Monika von der Haar

This production was made possible by

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