Alice in Wonderland Review

English National Ballet

This is a review of the English National Ballet's performance of Alice in Wonderland as part of their Christmas 2006 season.

Pros

• Sue Blane's amazing costumes
• Magical set design and illusions
• ENB's orchestra

Cons

• Lighting was sometimes too dim

English National Ballet's production of Alice in Wonderland was last seen in 2000 and was updated for the Christmas 2006 season. Alice in Wonderland is perfect entertainment for all the family.

It would probably be good to know the basic Alice in Wonderland story before watching this performance although the friend I was with hadn't read the book since she was a child and she was able to follow most of the scenes.

Alice is with her sister on a riverbank when she falls asleep and her adventure begins. She follows the White Rabbit down his rabbit hole, then tries to find her way out of the maze of different-sized doors. She cries so much a river appears and she swims with a huge array of animals. She meets the caterpillar who shows her the Garden of Living Flowers before going to the Duchess' house where she receives an invitation to the Queen's Croquet Match. Alice then ends up at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.

Alice goes to the Queen's Croquet Match with the White Rabbit. The Duchess is gossiping so the Queens shouts, "Off with her head!" There is a court trial where the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing tarts and the Queens passes sentence before the jury have decided their verdict. Alice then remembers the characters are mostly playing cards and she finds herself back with her sister on the riverbank who obviously doesn't believe a word of Alice's fantasy tale!

When the whole cast were on the stage for the final bows we could at last see how many dancers were needed to put together such an elaborate show.

There is wonderful comedy throughout. Venus Villa, playing Alice was convincingly childlike with her facial expressions - I had just spent the day with a 6 year old so could see all the similarities!

Principal dancer, Yat-Sen Chang is superb as the White Rabbit. His actions are skittish and funny with perfect execution.

Sarah McIlroy was suitably frightening as the Queen of Hearts.

• a table that grows tall (to give the impression of Alice shrinking)
• the Duchess' house flying in from above and a 'working' kitchen inside with the Duchess and cook appearing from a small door inside
• an amazing table for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party – the enormous teapot poured tea on its own, the plates move across the top, and the whole table moves around the stage
• Royal Gardeners painting the roses red - and they changed color!

Ballet lends itself to animal movements and the ENB's dancers are true experts. The dancers are graceful contortionists who, under Derek Deane's choreography, were able to convince the audience of their characters.

Everyone was commenting on Sue Blane's costumes which were based on the Tenniel artworks in the original book. The Queen of Heart's costume was my favorite but I didn't like the Cheshire Cat as I thought he looked slightly mangy. The square tutus for the pack of cards were a real challenge as dancer's use a tutu for balance.

ENB's orchestra has more than 60 players and they stunned the audience with their arrangement of the Tchaikovsky musical score.

ENB's performance of Alice in Wonderland is for all age groups. I particularly liked the fact that there was always something going on across the stage. Even when a solo performance was in the forefront, wherever Alice was, there was action. This is what keeps the children enthralled, as while adults can wonder at the mastery of the dancer's skills, children want to see Alice and her reaction.