The Atlas Movement Theatre have condensed Alice’s exciting experience inside the rabbit hole into a 20-minute drama which is even more rapid than a hasty REM dream. As a result, the audience has to digest different scenes in an unacceptably hasty manner: the famous tea party is so sped up that it looks like a bunch of young lads having a quick drink of lager on a Sunday night… on speed. 

Wonderland is a low-budget show adapted by Clare McCall. It’s presented by Atlas Movement, a theatre made up of 12 classmates who rose through the ranks of the East 15 Acting School’s World Performance course.

In order to reduce costs, this young group has thought of all kinds of creative ideas. For example, a seal is used as an entrance ‘ticket’ rather than an actual printed one; the design for the leaflets, apparently, came out of an amateur’s hand – the ‘Alice’ was poorly drawn and its background even shabbier. More so, there is not even a table set for this scene; instead, the actors decided to just drag a tablecloth together and pretend it’s a table. Someone who doesn’t know much about Alice in Wonderland might think they were air-drying a piece of cloth.

Put aside the scruffy nature of the show and the make-up and dressings are actually quite attractive. The actors successfully create a colourful but uniformed style on stage. Apart from the patent passion shown on their faces, dramatic make-up is also applied to the performers according to their roles. That’s why when the red stage light shines on their youthful, energetic faces, no one could possibly be hard-hearted enough to launch tomatoes at them.

Actress Ursula Hart impresses spectators with her version of the Queen of Hearts: rude and fun and with an additional subtle touch of having a captivating personality. Both the kids and the parents can’t help giggling when she delivers the famous line: “Chop off her head!”

On the contrary, what is supposed to be lovely turns out to be rather scary in this show. The White Rabbit, played by Charlie Barnes, wears a big, fake rabbit head made with paperboard and makes one grow goosebumps with its size and hollow eyes – that is, two big holes.

However, when the children laugh, all the above seems permissible. Parents temporarily forget that they spent £7 and half- an-hour’s drive on an amateur work which lasts not even half as long as what it claims to be.

Wonderland played as part of the Brighton Fringe.