Reviewed by Henryce Zannini
The current production at The Arctic Playhouse in West Warwick is “Alice in Wonderland,” adapted by Brainerd Duffield from the story by Lewis Carroll. It is the wild story of Alice, who tumbles down a mysterious rabbit hole and finds herself in a strange land where she meets its many odd residents. This nonsense world of Wonderland comes to life with phenomenal costumes provided by John Cagno and “Fantasy Factory Costume” in collaboration with costumer Nancy Rodrigues. The clever set, consisting of revolving panels and created by Joe Welch, also contributes to the magic of Wonderland. When I first walked into the theatre, I felt like I was walking into Wonderland. The aisles are painted in a madcap checkerboard style, and the music that is playing is captivating. This definitely set the mood before the play even began! Eileen Goretaya and Kyle Renee keep the show running smoothly from prop changes to lights to sound.
Director Rachel Hanauer has expertly cast this show, with eight of the eleven actors playing two to four roles apiece. Rachel, a talented singer with a specialty in opera, infuses the show with several recognizable classical pieces of music, to which I found myself happily humming along. This was a great added touch that worked perfectly—not my humming, but the music itself! Rachel successfully directed this show to make it equally appealing to both children and adults.
Alice is beautifully played by Jenna Petrarca. For a young lady who is just entering high school, Jenna is an extraordinary actress. I was mesmerized by Jenna from the very beginning to the very end. Her ability to subtlety transform from a somewhat insecure child into a young girl who can stand up for herself in spite of apparent dangers is flawless. Rachel’s interaction with all 24 characters (yes, 24!) is engaging and so much fun to watch. As Jenna continues to explore theatre, she is going to be a force to be reckoned with!
As Alice falls asleep, she believably falls down the rabbit hole amidst a cacophony of sounds and explosions of flashing, colorful lights. That hole belongs to the White Rabbit, played by Joham A. Rosario. With his quavering voice and quivering knees, Joham is hysterically frenzied, and you can’t help but fall in love with him. Although he is nervous and always in a hurry, he is still somewhat confident. Joham pulls this character off with ease and expertise. As he unintentionally guides Alice through Wonderland, his performance is a pure delight.
Alice next meets the Queen of Hearts, played with great aplomb by Katherine Kimmel. Her character is larger than life, commanding a booming presence every time she enters. Although she plays the perfect authoritative tyrant who enjoys playing croquet with flamingoes as mallets, Katherine is still amusing. The Queen of Hearts constantly orders the beheading of people, which let’s face it, is not a pleasant thing; but again, Katherine manages to have us laughing, even though the Wonderland inhabitants fear her. Her ability to balance fear and funny is amazing.
Rounding out the cast are Shannon McMillan, Stefan DiPippo, Jonathan Sproule, Elizabeth Nelson, Jessica Gates, Selina Amargo, Rose Peralta, and Emerson McGrath, who play the remaining 22 roles. How they manage their constant makeup and costume changes is beyond me! So much craziness abounds among these characters! There’s the Fish Footman (Peralta) with a kooky fish head, a hookah-smoking Caterpillar (Amargo), The Duchess who spouts inapropos morals (Gates), and the 5 of Spades (DiPippo), attempting to paint white roses red. Then there’s the singing and dancing Turtle (Nelson), the crazy and colorful tea loving Mad Hatter (Sproule), Tweedledum (McMillan) shuffling about and popping in and out, and the ever so matter-of-fact (but is it fact?) Humpty Dumpty (McGrath).
A quote from the play perfectly summarizes these characters: “We’re all mad here!” To meet all 24 mad characters, and Alice, be sure to catch this thoroughly refreshing and entertaining show at the Arctic Playhouse! And be sure to look for some of my favorites, including the river of salt tears, the Cheshire Cat, the crying baby, the tea party, uglification, the soup song, and hold your tongue. As always, there’s free popcorn, coffee, and homemade cookies!
“Alice in Wonderland”
June 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, and 30 at 8:00 pm
June 17 and 24 at 2:00 pm
