Students, faculty, and staff trickled into the Wrigley Theater this October, eager to see this year’s fall play, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” a childhood classic brought to life by amazing acting, a humorous script, and intricate new tricks. The story follows Alice as she falls down a rabbit hole into a magical world of adventure and curiosity—Wonderland. Alice is met with tea parties, talking animals, and whimsical little treats as she navigates her way through imagination and madness.

The Upper School version of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” featured the classic story but with an exciting twist: Lewis Carroll’s narrated language. The main characters’ acting was pleasantly accompanied by narrations enriching audience members’ understanding of the script and plotline.

In addition, each cast member’s personality played a big role in the show. Upper School performing arts teacher Frank Schneider said, “Until I cast [the production], I could only imagine the possibilities. I needed to know the actors and see what they brought to the show to make final decisions.” He added, “The show itself was a collaboration between me and the cast. We both brought our ideas to each scene and together created Wonderland.”

Along with the cast, another important part of this year’s fall play was the various tricks that helped create special effects throughout the story. For example, when Alice took a bite of the cakes that made her grow and shrink, Mr. Schneider used the actors around her to make her bigger and smaller by crouching down or lifting furniture.

Mr. Schneider said, “I wanted the cast to have a basic movement vocabulary that we could all use to build the movement.” To achieve these movement changes, Mr. Scheider set up workshops for the cast to participate in. “I contacted The Actors Gymnasium to come in and run three movement workshops.” These movement workshops helped the actors learn how to command the stage with not just their words, but also their actions.

At the end of the play, these movement classes clearly showed through. Senior Mikayla Smey, who played Alice, said, “I think our lift at the end when I had to get on [junior] Will [Wichman]’s shoulders went great. It was one of the things I was most nervous about, and I think we nailed it.”

While the audience saw the cast perform the show flawlessly, learning so many lines in such a short amount of time was no easy feat. Mikayla said, “I took a page from [junior] Finn Deeney’s book and used a Quizlet to help me memorize my lines. It took me forever to make the Quizlet, but it really helped with memorizing.”

Other cast members employed various study methods. Junior Jeremiah Wheatley, who played the mouse, said, “I prepared for my role in the play by going over my lines during any time I have free.”

The wonder and youthfulness of the play certainly captured the audience members’ attention. With the fantastic props and costumes accompanied by the enthusiastic cast and script, the audience was surely transported to Wonderland. Senior Stella Harris said, “I thought it was a unique rendition of “Alice in Wonderland” with a creative humor added and a purpose to become more engaged with the audience.”

Similarly, junior Kaden Uddin said, “I really enjoyed the play because of the energy all the actors showed. I really liked the funny narrations that complemented the main roles.”
After lots of hard work and preparation, this year’s fall play, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” was a smashing success. Both the cast and Mr. Schneider’s attention to detail to make the viewing experience as real as possible was displayed beautifully and brought audience members back to a land full of dreams and happiness. This show was definitely one for the books.