The Freedom Theatre’s new production – Alice in Wonderland – opened on January 23, 2011. This, our largest production to date, is not only a theatre performance, but it combines dance, music, flying actors, special light effects and magical costumes to make it a fantastic and colourful experience for children as well as the rest of the family!
The play is an adaptation of the famous novel Alice\’s Adventures in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll in 1865. It tells the story of a young girl whose curiosity causes her to fall down a rabbit hole, entering a fantasy world populated by peculiar and anthropomorphic creatures. It represents the child\’s struggle to survive in the confusing world and of adults and their seemingly arbitrary behaviour. To understand this world, Alice has to overcome the open-mindedness that is characteristic for children.
In The Freedom Theatre’s adaptation of the story Alice escapes a reality of poverty, oppression and conservatism where she is constrained to doing chores in the home, into a new Wonderland where she meets fantastic characters who reflect and challenge her previous life experiences. Through her encounters Alice reflects upon her own identity as she is continuously forced to question what she considers “right” and “wrong”, “normal” and “abnormal”.
The Freedom Theatre has already been joined by a large number of highly professional international volunteers who are sharing their time and expertise to make the play a memorable experience for the thousands of Palestinian children we hope will be able to see it.
Directed by:
Juliano Mer-Khamis (Palestine)
Zoe Lafferty (United Kingdom)
Production Manger and Light Designer:
Jacob Gough (United Kingdom)
Stage Manager:
Adnan Nagnagie (Palestine)
Dramaturgy:
Udi Aloni (USA)
Costume Designers:
Paulina Almeida (Portugal)
Anke Kalk (Germany)
Set Designers:
Linn Reinius and Gunnar Bergsten (Sweden)
Guest Actors:
Micaela Miranda (Portugal)
Nabeel Alare\’e (Palestine)
The production of Alice in Wonderland is supported by Al Jazeera Children\’s Channel. The Acting School programme is supported by SIDA,Freedom to Create and UNFPA.