Lewis Carroll’s work is brought to life in the School of Theatre and Dance’s stimulating production of “Wonderfully Alice.”

Directors Stanton Davis, Courtney Gronewold and Gibson Cima worked with the cast to create an original stage production based on the wacky mind of Carroll with everything from the script to the costumes.

When the writers started developing the script from nothing back in August, they ended with a theatrical masterpiece, and all their hard work on the dialogue paid off.

This play focuses on Alice Liddell, played by Rachel Jaco, and Gertrude Chataway, played by Vanessa Vagle, as they share common experiences in Wonderland. While these two are transported between Wonderland and normal life, the rest of the characters focus on hunting creatures like snarks and jabberwockies.

The emotions of fear and anxiety arise as the hunt comes to an end and everyone has disappeared into the creature. The facial expressions of the cast before they are consumed by it display these emotions. Their impeccable delivery led them to a noteworthy production.

Part of the script includes poems written by Carroll, such as “Jabberwocky” and “The Hunting of the Snark.” These poems are considered nonsense poems with its humorous and whimsical phrases, such as “‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe.” They are spoken in the play usually by supporting characters.

By bringing the snarks and jabberwockies to life, the cast shows Carroll’s work as they interpret it. The frightened facial expressions from the cast demonstrated their concerns about the creatures and their intimidating reputation.

The scenes dramatically transition in and out of Wonderland but people can easily tell when they are in Wonderland by looking at Alice’s hair and seeing if it is up. The colors on the backdrop represent the change in scenery as well. This helps to ease the scenes along in this complicated production.

The strong production of “Wonderfully Alice” showed the enthusiastic efforts of the cast and the creativity of the crew as they combined Lewis Carroll’s greatest works.

 

If you go:

What: Wonderfully Alice

Where: Black Box Theatre

When: Thursday: 7:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 p.m., Saturday 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday 2 p.m.

Cost: Tickets cost $6 for children, $9 for students, $14 for senior citizens and $17 for adults