Tom Littler’s Orange Tree in Richmond crowns an exceptional year with its 18–25 Young Company production Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. After the extraordinary star casting in its recent productions of Creditors and The Rivals, the wonderful play Poor Clare, recognition by The Stage as theatre of the year in 2025 and raising a significant portion of the £4.5m for the 2026 redevelopment of the venue, the place continues to demonstrate what can be achieved by this small intimate theatre in the round. The creativity that the budgets and the venue facilities force producers and directors to apply to create these shows is a beacon that others should follow.
The 18–25 Young Company is an annual programme, working throughout the year in developing their skills and experience before staging the Christmas production. As you watch the resulting show you can see the powerful sense of ensemble and developed abilities throughout the whole cast. They speak with confident strong voices, excellent characterisations, and impressive sustained reactions even when they are not centre stage. They work together without inhibitions, move in carefully choreographed movements, sing with joy, and bring an infectious energy to their performances.
Chinonyerem Odimba has created this modern tale inspired by the original stories of Lewis Carroll. We recognise all the famous characters that Alice meets in Wonderland and some of the key moments like the Drink Me / Eat Me temptations, the Mad Hatter’s tea party, the croquet game, and the trial of who stole the Jam Tarts. Yet this version has a very modern feel as Alice campaigns for action against climate change and feels alienated from her fellow school students until she learns from her adventure in Wonderland who she is and how to be true to herself.
Director Matt Marshall and movement director Liam Francis do an extraordinary job in marshalling the cast of eighteen playing multiple roles in a fluid fantasy setting so the limited stage never feels overcrowded and scenes flow seamlessly. The simple costumes and headdresses together with delightful puppets are used to solve creatively the staging challenges as Alice shrinks and grows, unlocks doors, and meets an array of unusual characters.
Alice was portrayed by Eithne Garricks with great charm with her alter egos played by Layla Shurmer and Avani Zarine to convey the turmoil and self-doubt in her mind that the adventure sets out to resolve. It works well and emphasises how we all need to consider how we should embrace change. Leeann Sule plays Alice at some performances.
On her journey she meets a cleverly portrayed Caterpillar (J J Chilton with four others), the outrageous Mad Hatter (Megan Diby), the March Hare (Rosie Glynn), the sleepy Dormouse (Ferah Jennela), the energetic White Rabbit (Izzie Mayhew-Smith) and the electric Cheshire Cat (Japhia Papa Marfo), each instantly identifiable as the Lewis Carroll characters. The story winds through various encounters that lead and are resolved in the court case presided over by Judge Griffin (Nadia Sweeney) as the Queen (Agnes Halliday) and King (Iaon Oosthuizen), both looking gorgeous in pink, demand that they cut off Alice’s head. We enjoyed the influence of the Mock Turtle (Jessica Millson) as they debate complaining, moping around and being down in the dumps on Alice’s self-discovery with a strong plea about plastic pollution in the seas and a call to stop worrying and act more. The Duchess (Tanya Kovatchka) together with Lizzie O’Reilly, Jumoke Sowole and Phoebe Sule complete the ensemble cast.
The most joyous moments come at the start of Act 2 as the cast prepare for the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and take the time to engage all the young children in the audience to partake of the sweets and learn the dance so that it is a delightfully fun immersive experience for everyone. The message is loud and clear, “to surround yourself with people who make you smile to find your own Wonderland.”
This is a wonderful combination of a clever reimagining of the classic story, a talented energetic and enthusiastic cast and a strong creative vision and direction. The messaging flows from the narrative and performances and is more impactful than hectoring and lecturing. Yet the issues of care for the planet, compassion and company of friends and bravery and self-belief resonate with us all. 2026 will be an important year for the Orange Tree and its creative leadership but they can enter it with confidence and the knowledge that they are getting so much right. The Young Company too can enter the year with optimism that they can build a career if they choose to in the precarious world of theatre based on the experience they have gained at the Orange Tree. Together we must find ways of ensuring more young people across the UK get the chance to develop the life skills through theatre as this amazing organisation has offered.
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