Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Artist Jasmin Vardimon has given the classic Alice in Wonderland story such a major make-over that it’s barely recognisable as the famous Lewis Carroll tale. Instead of a childhood dreamland this is a world of adult relationships, of memory and death and of gender identity. As Alice states quite emphatically in the book, she is ‘seven and a half exactly’; this Alice may be 17 or 27, but seven she is not.
ALiCE was developed from a virtual reality experience, Alice in VR Wonderland, that premiered in 2021 – the new show also toured in January last year. The title role was danced by Liudmila Loglisci who also starred as Alice in the earlier production. She was joined on stage by an ensemble of excellent dancers who worked through a series of six sequences designated as chapters. The set design, by Guy Bar-Amotz, was a striking element with the pages of a giant book as the stage centrepiece. The chapter titles for each sequence were projected on to the pages.
The book forms a good analogy for the disparate sections of the production, tying together the ideas and beginning and ending with ‘time’. There was some good use of projection and lighting design to enhance the effects, although the lighting could have been sharper. The pre-opening special effect of a countdown clock formed by the dancers’ bodies (and curiously a large dog!) was fun and created a promise of striking visual imagery, a promise that wasn’t entirely fulfilled.
This was a high energy production with bold, effervescent choreography and even a little dialogue, blurring the lines between dance, mime and physical theatre. The physicality of the dancers was impressive. Risa Maki, especially, shone for her control and piercing stage presence. The show was also jarringly loud in parts with music across a range of genres, from Bach to drums and bass. ‘Living Next Door to Alice’ (originally released by Australian pop band New World in 1972 and later becoming an international hit for Bradford rock band Smokie in 1976-77) was there too, with sound design by Vardimon and Joel Cahen. There were some good whimsical touches with pink rubber gloves for flamingoes and a well-placed blower vac.
Alice herself seemed rather passive, observing the tumult around her rather than taking a more assertive role. Even though the Alice in the books is so young, she is nobody’s fool and is very clear about her own opinions. It was hard to really engage with her emotional journey when none of that was revealed here.
The narrative was much less about the story and more about popular socio-cultural concerns such as immigration, masculinity and gender identity. That is the artist’s prerogative, of course, but it does feel very didactic. Pro-immigration banners and a bewigged character (Bojo or Donald or a mash-up of both) made it feel like self-satisfied virtue signalling at the expense of a cohesive narrative.
Read: Book Review: Alice’s Oxford, Peter Hunt
ALiCE is a visually creative concept, and quite surreal in parts, but it has very little to do with its source material and that’s a shame because there is so much creativity and imagination in the books. While some of the key characters do appear here, including the imperious Red Queen, the caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat and the guards, this is absolutely not a work for children. The production notes say ‘recommended for ages 7+’ but this reviewer would say ages 13+. It is, indeed, a ‘curiouser and curiouser’ reinvention and worthy of some animated post-performance debate.
Jasmin Vardimon Company’s ALiCE
Sadler’s Wells, London
Concept, Direction and Choreography: Jasmin Vardimon MBE
Set Design: Guy Bar-Amotz and Jasmin Vardimon
Lighting and Projection Design: Andrew Crofts
Sound Design: Jasmin Vardimon and Joel Cahen
Costume Design: Elisabeth Sur and Dorota Wieckowska
Dancers: Risa Maki, Hobi Schouppe, Sean Moss, Juliette Tellier, Liudmila Loglisci, Matthew Cotton, Donny Beau Ferris
ALiCE was performed 23-24 May 2025.
