THEATRE REVIEW:
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
4 MAR/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
Rating: 2.5 out of 5


Although I've never studied the principles of aerodynamics and flight, simple logic suggests the first thing one should do if one wishes to become airborne is to jettison everything that might possibly hold one down.

That logic could easily be applied to the new production of ALICE IN WONDERLAND that opened Wednesday at Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People (where it will run through March 19, with added performances during March break). A production of Quebec's Théâtre Tout à Trac, it is, of course, yet another stage version of Lewis Carroll's beloved children's classic and its sequels, adapted this time out by TàT's artistic director Hugo Bélanger, who apparently laboured en français and then had his handiwork translated to English by Maureen Labonte.

Recommended by the folks at LKTYP for the age 6-10 demographic, this show is, first and foremost, a treat for eyes of every age. But one is forced to conclude, based on the size of its set, that it is a treat designed to be served up in a much smaller space than this theatre And once the five-member cast launches into the business of bringing Carroll's beloved characters to life, with the aid of designer Patrice Charbonneau-Brunelle's inspired creative genius, it is almost certain anyone seated in the back half of the auditorium will be wishing for closer seats.

From the Mad Hatter and Humpty Dumpty to the Cheshire Cat, from the Dormouse and the Door and the Queen of Hearts — Carroll's cast of strange and wonderful characters are brought to life with such a vital and magical mix of puppet technology and live performance artistry that they all but demand to be seen from the closest possible vantage point. For once, front row centre would be a great place to be.

But while the sheer artistry of the staging is thrilling and certainly welcomes audiences of all ages, this is a production that fails to put out the welcome mat in any meaningful way for its youthful target group. While no one can fault the level of artistry and dedication brought to the stage by Valérie Deault (who plays the indefatigable Alice), and castmates Sarianne Cormier, Gabriel De Santis-Caron, Marie-Eve Trudel and Phillippe Robert (who share the other 15 roles between them), as Francophone artists, they simply lack the linguistic skill to bring Labonte's admittedly somewhat leaden translation to life.

And that's a serious problem in this particular work, for while Carroll's story has always appealed to the imagination of young readers, his facility at playing with language has also been a large part of his ongoing appeal with that same demographic. Even while one acknowledges the game effort with which this cast attacks Labonte's workmanlike translation (doing, I suspect, a far better job with the help of Julia Lenardon's tutoring than a lot of Anglophones might do if the tables were reversed), asking them to pull off some of Carroll's verbal gymnastics with the élan and polish required to make them fly is a little like asking fledgling jugglers to forsake their foam training balls in favour of chainsaws at full throttle. Or, for that matter, asking the Wright brothers to take wing and soar in a cast-iron bathtub.