Wonderland 2: Back Down the Rabbit Hole

Wonderland 2: Back Down the Rabbit Hole

Giselle Theatre Company

Saint Marks House, London Road

29th June - 1st July

I went to see Wonderland 2 as i'd seen Giselle perform Welcome To Wonderland a couple of years prior. Everyone knows that sequels are generally not as good as their predecessor but there was something about this sequel that demolished that rule and was not only as good as the first but was even better.

With a simple set consisting of a few backdrops, the minimalist staging meant that we as an audience would be able to focus on the story being told to us by these young performers. The lights went down and the sound of thunder came crashing through the speakers. We see Alice (performed by Charlotte Elford) walking trough the aisle with some rather creepy figures following her and then all of a sudden we have an array of characters from the last show (and some new faces) come and greet Alice as she gets home to her now 16 yr old daughter Chloe (again played By Leah Turner) who is looking at old photos of her dad...They get into an argument and so we get our first song 'For Me' a wonderful duet between our lead character and her child that really shows off the talents that Giselle have.

After Alice falls asleep we travel to The Underworld where we meet The March Hare (Played in this production by Kian Anderson) Kian really gives a sort of steampunk vibe to the character which really comes across in his solo 'The March Hare' which also gave him the chance to show some real rock type vocals. He then meets Tweedledum & Tweedledee who were played amazingly by Ruby Ingle & Aiden Riley...the due really got on well together and managed to make us laugh in every scene they were in.

They managed to get up to Alice's apartment where they are shortly followed by El Gato & The White Rabbit (played by returning actors Logan Mogridge & Declan Robertson) and these two actors are obviously having the time of their lives reprising the roles. Logan has such a talent for creating humor out of the smallest things and really give of a sort of Lee Evans/Jim Carrey vibe. Declan Robertson really shone through in this performance especially during his act 2 solo 'Turn My Life Around' where you could really feel the emotion of his character.

The next characters we meet are The Queen & Mad Hatter as well The Red Knight and his Knights. The Queen & Hatter were played by Mykela Buckly-McGlip & Olivia Roberts who's powerhouse vocals and comedic timing really complimented each other. The Red Knight was played by newcomer Lewis Heath, although Lewis was new to the company he certainly didn't seem out of place and played the character with confidence and had a great onstage chemistry with Charlotte.

We were also introduced to two more new characters in the form of The Mock turtle (played confidently by Alex Evans) and The Doormouse...this was anther great paring with the two actors have a great onstage presence.

Overall this new musical with book and lyrics by resident drama teacher Neil Mogridge who was really able to capture the feel and tone of the original whilst adding his own spin to create a whimsical and wonderful new Wonderland was a really good night out and i cannot wait to see what show Giselle give us next.

Five Stars

*****

Jason Elliot