Eye to eye theater, theater that allows audiences near absolute proximity to the performance is both seminal and thrilling. When it’s done as well as Upended Productions take on Louis Carroll’s childhood classic, Alice in Wonderland, it’s simply delightful.
Upended’s Alice has been considerably sassed up and given so many creative spins that the whole experience can be wonderfully dizzying. The “show” is a walking journey through a small slice of Evanston where fantastical, if sometimes slightly rough hewn, adventures lie behind every door.
There’s something refreshingly organic about traipsing from small business to small business and finding the nook in each one where a little story telling magic is happening. The cast is made up of a rotating army of folks. Some more permanent than others.
The audience, a maximum of 15 people, is given ground rules for the 90-minute escapade by a white rabbit who also acts as guide. Rabbits change frequently and on this outing the teacher rabbit (Caitlan Savage) was up. On the bossy side, her gruff chiding was all bark and no bite. Showing up a few minutes late to let everybody assemble and chill in the Alice vibe created in State Farm’s back office, the meet up spot, her colorful opening spiel hinted at how interesting this sojourn was going to be.
As tempting as it is to give a blow by blow of every stop (chapter), highlights should work well enough to provide a good feel for the experience. The first chapter was in Sketchbook Brewery a couple of doors south. We were a motley crew and the brewery’s patrons looked with bemusement as we clamored down the back steps for a puppet show hosted by a meek self-deprecating mouse (Kevin Ayles) getting the business from a couple of pint sized stick puppets manned by Risha Hill and Jermaine Thomas. If you remember the book, you’ll probably know who the actors are parodying. If not, it’s just fun watching them go through their schtick.
One overwhelming highlight was Chad the bird (Josh Zagoren), a hand puppet. Think intellectually gifted savant super charged on too much adrenaline with an extraordinary gift for word play. To say Chad was “yomazing” doesn’t do him justice.
Consistent throughout the Alice performance, central nuggets of the original plot were respectfully retained and then often overlaid with a distinctly contemporary and highly sophisticated sensibility. All the while making it quite accessible to children as young as six.
There was a stop in an alley to encounter a slightly imbalanced magician and a very memorable swing through Cultivate, a posh plant emporium. There, the Queen (Quinn Hegarty) regally and imposingly presided while lip syncing Annie Lenox. She was a nice queen and gave everybody a rose. Downstairs two adorable young ladies jabbered barely intelligible; but highly entertaining, gibberish before sending us on our way.
I think it was the patio stop after the quick but enchanting tea party at the train station that threatened to tip the scales and tilt the performance into the land of “for mature audiences only”. The peril never materialized which made Laura McKenzie’s performance all the more delicious for her stunning ability to keep the razor safely tucked away between her tongue and her cheek. She was marvelous.
By the time we wound up at a pretty cool local bookstore (Squeezebox Books and Music) where a tag team of good cop bad cop was doing a great job confusing us, every member of the audience, young and not so young, were smiling unabashedly and basking in the restorative powers of fantasy.
Placing a name on this type of performance is an extreme challenge. Is it immersive? Or do you call it environmental because it so participatory? Perhaps the best description would be to simply call it absolute fun. And you would be very hard pressed to find to a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon in the 10,856 square miles that make of Chicago.
But catch it soon. Alice closes on October 21st and there’s no guarantee it will be reprised next year.
Alice
Upended Productions
Runs Saturdays and Sundays through October 21
Tours begin at 1 p.m., 1:15 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 1:45 p.m., & 2 p.m.
Meet at LaCapra State Farm office, 829 Chicago, Evanston, IL
$25 for single tickets; $17 for students and seniors with ID
www.UpEndedProductions.com
224-999-2942
