Alice in Wonderland provides new opportunities for the middle school theater department. From the colorful costumes and sets to the great acting, this show was incredibly enjoyable. The moment Alice steps through the looking glass, it was a vivid adventure.
This play allowed for many young actors to participate because of its large cast list. With so many speaking roles, numerous middle schoolers were able to get a chance on stage.
“We saw very high numbers of middle school students coming out for shows last year,” said show director and theater teacher Donna Walker. “It’s great being able to give as many kids as possible speaking parts.”
The show was a perfect way to get the younger students acclimated to the school’s very respected theater department.
“I really enjoy the show, and love working with the amazing, talented cast; everyone has been very supportive,” said seventh grader Angela Alvarez, who played Alice. “This is my first year at Trinity, and I loved meeting new people.”
Walker, who typically directs upper school plays, took on Alice in Wonderland as her first middle school production.
“Working with the middle school students [was] great,” said Walker. “I have an extraordinarily smart group of actors this year.”
There was so much talent in this show, and everything down to the timing was perfect. The talent of the cast members entertained the audience and amazed both Walker and Stage Manager, senior Gaby Bloom.
“Gaby Bloom [and I] are constantly turning to each other and saying things like ‘I can’t believe that kid is only in 6th grade,’” Walker said. “The level of creativity and comedic ability has been outstanding.”
In Alice in Wonderland, the characters are all playful, so it was a fun show for middle schoolers to put on.
“Since I’m playing the Mad Hatter, I just had to be myself with a large hat,” said seventh grader Lara Boerth-Dryden.
There had clearly been a lot of hard work put into making this show come to life. Alice in Wonderland is not an easy play to pull off, but Walker and the cast were able to captivate the essence of what Lewis Carroll was trying to communicate.
“I wanted the colors to be very 1980s vibrant, almost neon,” said Walker. “Our fabulous costume designer Suzanne Sacks has practically read my mind for the look of the costumes.”
The costumes were very elaborate, especially that of the Caterpillar, who was portrayed by seventh grader Lorelei Gifford. It was composed of a huge green caterpillar cutout with four pairs of hands which would simultaneously move along to whatever the Caterpillar would say, which definitely added a comedic effect of the respective scenes.
The scenes in Alice in Wonderland are extremely vivid and full of imagination. One of the strongest scenes was the water scene, where miniature Alice floated around in her own tears. Everything from the sound effects to the scenic background made this scene tangible.
The show was especially unique because of the numerous stagehands involved; none of the set changes would have been possible without the help of the stagehands, who helped move the objects as they came to life.
The show ends with Alice waking up in class. This makes for a very comedic ending as I’m sure we can all relate to having dozed off in class once or twice. However, maybe not all our dreams are as vivid as Alice’s were.
