Alice in Wonderland revisited

Much like The Nutcracker Ballet, Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland lets us tumble into a tunnel of dreams and childhood magic. It is where our fertile imaginations are free to roam, unearthing whimsical characters that delight and enthral.

We are familiar with Alice’s intrepid voyage where she meets the shocking Queen of Hearts, a mysterious Cheshire Cat and the wildly absurd Mad Hatter. And while we may think we know her story like the back of our hand, Théâtre Tout Ă  Trac has a few surprises up its sleeve.

As first time presenters at the Northern Alberta International Children’s Festival running May 29 to June 2, this Quebec-based troupe arrives with its unique brand of puppetry, mask and physical theatre.

Instead of falling down a rabbit hole, a brunette Alice discovers a dusty bookshelf where each and every book is a door into a wonderful universe of possibilities.

“This talks about the power of reading and the imagination. Each time Alice opens a book, it transforms into a character. It’s a portal into another world. It’s like magic,” says Hugo Belanger, who founded the company 15 years ago.

A street performer and mask aficionado, Belanger was initially committed to exploring commedia dell’arte, a masked style of improvised comedy sketches with stock characters developed in 16th century Italy.

“After two or three shows, it was the same and we wanted to explore new things. The main mission was not commedia, but developing the imagination. Commedia is a theatrical technique, but what interests me is telling stories.”

Turning to the classics, Belanger conceived The Green Bird and Princess Turandot, both hits that won a basket of awards and cemented their reputations.

Waving artistic license in one hand, Belanger took a few liberties with Alice while still retaining Carroll’s spirit.

“The main story is about Alice following the rabbit. He has lost his glove and it is a crime to see the Queen without gloves. She will chop off his head if he is not wearing gloves.”

Starring in this production is Conservatoire d’art dramatique graduate ValĂ©rie Deault as Alice. Sarianne Cormier, Marie-ève Trudel, Nicolas Germain-Marchand and Gabriel De Santis-Caron portray the other 13 quirky characters.

Perhaps the 55-minute show’s most intriguing aspect is a pop-up, jack-in-the-box set.

“Alice never moves. She’s always in the book set, but the set transforms around her.”

Alice in Wonderland was first written in French in 2006 and later translated into English. But much of the dialogue that made sense in French simply did not translate into English. Taking advantage of his love of language, Belanger played with new words and puns, and turned the logic upside down.

“We wanted to rediscover Alice, to see another vision and to talk about the imagination and play with words. It’s our version. It’s not like a movie.”