21 February 2023

“It’s a gorgeous confection of fun”

 

Kate Wasserberg, former artistic director of Stockroom, spoke to Damon Fairclough about Alice in Wonderland.

This new production of Alice in Wonderland has been described as a ‘funked-up remix’ of Lewis Carroll’s classic story. What can audiences expect from it?
It’s a radical reimagining of the original – a new musical version in which Wonderland becomes the world of music and memory!

We’ve taken a lot of inspiration from Pixar films in terms of wanting something that’s silly and fun on its own terms, but that also brings an emotional life to Alice that the original doesn't necessarily have.

So this is an Alice who’s refinding her sense of joy, friendship and family after losing her dad. We've brought in a little brother called Lewis, who she has to rebuild her relationship with, and as she travels through Wonderland she meets amazing characters who are all inspired by the originals, but now they’re based in the world of music.

There are lots of versions of Alice out there, so why create a new one with this approach?
We chose the world of music because the show is a musical, and we felt that music and memory were really beautiful ideas to explore. Also, the original is very interested in logic puzzles and maths and things like that – they’re fantastic on the page, but we wanted something that could occupy the world of theatre. Music feels much more theatrical in that way.

This show is a collaboration between the Playhouse and Stockroom, the company you work with. Stockroom has a creative process all of its own, so how have you gone about creating this production?
We have six salaried writers, and we began this project by having an open conversation about what Alice in Wonderland means to us. That led to us also talking about other things that were important to us in childhood – including the movie Labyrinth, The Wizard of Oz, stage musicals, panto, cartoons from the 80s and 90s. They all fed into what we wanted to do.

Our writers then created a big story map, which they threaded together into a first draft that was read with actors. It’s being continually reworked, and we're in constant conversation with the team at Liverpool Playhouse. It's a really open, collaborative process.

Could you tell me a little about the key characters?
Our Alice is really good at fixing things, she's very technically minded. She's 16 because we were really interested in telling a coming of age story, and she's funny, she can rap, she's working class – all those things are important to us.

Lewis is 10 and he's a bit sweeter – he’s still at that point where he just accepts the fantastical. So the show is about Alice needing to reach back and learn a little bit about what was taken from her when her dad died, but also about her growing up into a new world and learning to be there for other people as more of an adult.

Bibian is their mum – she’s a nurse. This is a normal Liverpool family that’s a bit stretched and pushed. At the beginning, Bibian gets called in for a last minute shift on Alice's birthday, and Alice has to stay at home looking after Lewis.

It’s a magical kids show, but we wanted it to feel rooted in people's everyday experience, so when we go into the magic, it feels as though it's for everyone. And music is just a really accessible form of magic. 

The idea is that Alice and Lewis are pulled into a tape of music that their dad, who was a musician, wrote for them. It’s all based on the idea that songs can connect you back to people and times that are lost and gone, and their dad still exists in Wonderland as a memory. He’s the Dad Hatter!

And who do Alice and Lewis meet along the way?
All kinds of wonderful characters, including the Queen of Charts who represents just wanting to have a good time, pushing away the bad stuff and being selfish. And our Cheshire Cat is called Chez – he’s deliberately anarchic and immoral, and has a lot of that Alice in Wonderland chaotic energy.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee are the Fast Forward and Rewind controls from their dad’s old stereo. I think that’s a very Alice idea – things going forwards, things going backwards – but they’re also like two warring siblings who echo the way that Alice and Lewis are bumping heads.

The show is full of original music isn’t it?
It is. The songs are by Vikki Stone, who’s the most talented composer. She's a stand-up comedian as well, and she's written these songs that run the gamut from very sweet and moving musical theatre numbers through to really funny, poppy songs.

As the director, what kind of show are you hoping to create?More than anything, I want it to be a gorgeous confection of fun. Our absolute key aim is for it to be something that grandma, mum and kids can come to, and all can have a great time. It’s on during summer, so I hope it'll be like a gorgeous holiday from your life that you can experience with a load of other people and your own family.

It's my first musical – which I'm approaching with deep humility! – but I'm very lucky to be surrounded by an amazing team of people. It's a show about music featuring some really talented actor musicians, so I want it to be somewhere between a gig and a panto.

It's very different to anything I've ever done. I normally build quite meticulous naturalistic work, but I'm really excited about the challenge of it. I think to be silly and have fun is something we all really need.

My primary aim is going to be to make my own kids laugh, and hopefully that'll make other kids laugh too!

Finally then, who will love this show and why should audiences pack the Playhouse to see it?
Because it's got something for every member of the family – people who love music, people who love musicals, everyone. It's got a good story, great characters, loads of jokes, and it’s gorgeous to look at.

We can’t wait to welcome them!

Alice in Wonderland is at the Liverpool Playhouse Tue 4 Jul to Sat 22 Jul 2023, click here for more information and tickets.