Said Alice

Not for the first time have parallels been drawn between the fantasy world created by Lewis Carroll in Alice and Wonderland and the hallucinatory effects of mind-altering drugs. And it is down this warren that Z Theatre company's production goes.

Said Alice is a lively production which uses some creative techniques to adapt—or rather pervert—the classic children’s book. Alice is a 17-year-old who is offered a mysterious pill by her friend, Cat, on a night out. After taking it, she is compelled to chase the elusive "white rabbit" through the course of a night which involves binge drinking, gambling, and a one-night-stand. Along the way, she meets a cast of surreal and sinister parodies from Carroll’s novel, including a wild-eyed tramp called Hatter, a Dormouse offering space-cakes, and a transvestite Queen of Hearts.

While the characters in Said Alice are fairly amusing distortions of their namesakes from the fairytale, a few of the scenes appear to simply consist of people jumping around aimlessly on stage. The only genuinely original element of the show is in its clever use of a black and white film to show the reality of Alice’s night out in stark contrast to her experiences in the fantasy realm.

Said Alice is not ground-breaking, but it is entertaining and well-acted. The Fringe is, after all, about giving new actors and small theatre groups an opportunity to experiment with their ideas – and this is exactly what Said Alice offers.