The Blue Raincoat Company, having had a recent success with an adaptation by Jocelyn Clarke of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, has gone back to the well for more. A gamble, perhaps, but one that has paid off. Their new Alice Through the Looking Glass, produced by the same team, is as good as its predecessor; and that means very good indeed.
The set design by Michael Cummins (also lighting) has a number of large trunks lying about the stage. One opens slowly, and a tangle of strange bodies weave and writhe out of it, led by Alice. Finally alone, she begins her tale of the world on the other side of the looking glass, and her entry into it.
Her dream-like journey, across a fantastic chessboard of space, people and creatures, brings her into contact, not to say collision, with a well-loved ensemble. The Red Queen provides the initial impetus, followed by Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Walrus and the Carpenter, Humpty Dumpty, the Lion and the Unicorn, the White Queen and White Knight and more. Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, also turns up.
What makes the show different and fascinating is the degree of physical precision and acting integrity invested in this stage embodiment of an enduring classic. Both eye and ear are beguiled with interpretations that ring the bells of memory in a new and clamorous way. When this company places its talents in the service of appropriate and substantial material, it claims a special place in theatre.
Director Niall Henry does a first-rate job of marshalling his fine cast - Fiona McGeown, John Carty, Ciaran McCauley, Liz Bracken, Sandra O'Malley and David Heap - through the creative maze. It closes with an epilogue which might have been part prologue, a flashback-opening to anticipate the dying fall. But that is not so much a criticism as an indication of the extent of my involvement in this frabjous show - really quite brillig.
Runs to March 25th. To book: 071-70431
