Brixton House (formerly Ovalhouse theatre) and multi-award winning, genre-bending theatre company Poltergeist have joined forces this December to present the premiere of a brand new production of Lewis Carroll’s all-time classic, Alice In Wonderland.
Set in Brixton Underground Station, rooted in the heart of the local community, this contemporary Christmas adventure is a thrilling remix that weaves storytelling, rap music and comic book visuals with the recognisable sights and sounds of Brixton. Audiences will be immersed in a theatre space which has been transformed into a strangely familiar Victoria line tube train.
Poltergeist’s Jack Bradfield, whose Ghost Walk, (co-produced with New Diorama), was a sell-out hit last Christmas, directs this fantastical tale devised from a series of workshops with actors, creatives and the team at Brixton House. This collaborative approach has resulted in a bold new show which didn’t need to venture far to find inspiration. This Alice encounters a motley crew of characters as she tries to find her way off the Victoria line back home to Brixton.
Nkhanise Phiri (National Youth Theatre Rep 20/21) makes her stage debut in the lead role as Alice; Toyin Ayedun-Alase, fresh from Dipo Baruwa-Etti’s The Clinic (Almeida) and Comedy of Errors (RSC), plays the ‘Queen of the Line’ and multi-rolling parts alongside Khai Shaw (Frantic Assembly, Shaftesbury Theatre, Orange Tree Theatre, Lyceum).
Poltergeist company members, clown and cabaret artist Rosa Garland and writer, performer and poet Will Spence who both previously performed in Ghost Walk, Art Heist, and Lights Over Tesco Car Park also play a host of bizarre creatures and characters on the underground.
Jack Bradfield comments: “We are thrilled to be remixing Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland for Brixton House this Christmas. For many, this will be their first trip back to the theatre—and for our young audience, it may be their first trip ever. So, with a super-team of actors and creatives, we’ve put together a non-stop thrill ride of an evening, full of laughs and love, for the whole family. Hop on the Victoria Line with Alice and hold on tight! Although audiences should be warned that they’ll never see the London Underground the same way again.”
Brixton House Artistic Director and Joint CEO Gbolahan Obisesan adds: “I connected with Poltergeist’s work during lockdown and exploring creative conversations, Alice in Wonderland became a thrilling journey to take together. We are incredibly excited by this production. This is a very different Alice and we can’t wait to share this playful and enchanting interpretation which so wonderfully captures the spirit of the local community with Londoners, both young and old this December.”
Alice In Wonderland is at Brixton House 1st to 31st December 2022
