The King and Queen of Hearts
(Kyle Wells and Sammie Leverett) with
the White Rabbit (Lee Copping)

Taking the audience on a trip down the rabbit hole to a whirling wonderland of colourful characters and inventive effects, the Christmas show by students at West Suffolk College is a delight.

From the moment the dancers step out onto the stage to recreate the greenery of the countryside, the audience was transported to a magical land.

Hayley Stutchbury as Alice made an instant impact, a strangely Victorian girl between her modern dress sisters. She drove the action forward throughout the first half of the show, a perfect truculent child and guide to the bewildering world of wonderland.

An extremely camp white rabbit, played trippingly by Lee Copping, gave added point to Alice's exclamation: "How very queer the world is today!"

With only very basic staging at their disposal, the performers managed to imitate the sequence where Alice shrinks and grows by eating or drinking the magic substances.

The pool of her own tears, which Alice ends up swimming in, was cleverly depicted by dancers with a selection of 'tears', ribbons and strips of fabric.

The chaotic insanity of the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and the culminating trial of the Knave of Hearts were equally well staged. Emma Morey (the Dormouse), Kimberley Harris (the March Hare) and Mark Jones (the Mad Hatter) were very amusing.

All the performers were impressive, but perhaps Emily Clifford as the Duchess, Kyle Wells as the King of Hearts and Bertie Sander as the Mock Turtle deserve a special mention.

There were a few minor flaws; all the actors needed to concentrate on making sure their words could be heard and understood by the audience.
Some of the dancers did not maintain the beaming smile that most of the troupe directed at the audience. Occasionally, off stage voices could be heard.

But overall, this was hilarious and fast moving panto-style entertainment, with the best of Lewis Carroll's childish jokes and creaky puns on display.

Students taking part are studying for National Diplomas in Performing Arts, or Dance.

Gayle Wade
December 2008