ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
Review by Paul Sherman (Director, Author & Playwright from Kent)

The cast that took to the stage for Axmouth Children’s Theatre’s latest production ‘Alice through the looking glass’ were young and inexperienced (for five of them, it was their onstage debut). Yet they gave a marvellous performance which entranced the audiences from beginning to end.

Director Malcolm Henty wrote the piece based on Lewis Carroll’s characters, but with a storyline that involved Alice (brilliantly played by Lily Coleman), attempting to ‘save the musicals’ from the Red Queen (a fiery performance by Lilien Demesova), who is trying to close them all down. So we were treated to songs from ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Oliver’, ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘The Sound of Music’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and the show finishing with a resounding version of ‘The Time Warp’ from ‘Rocky Horror’.

Rose Patten excelled as the Mad Hatter and the interaction between Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee (Imani Ford and Megan Dare) was delightful. There were great portrayals from Josie Handley (White rabbit) and Isie Hilton (Lewis Carroll and the Queen of Diamonds). The three red knights were a brilliant combination of Poppy Coleman (who also played the ‘girl in the mirror’), Willow Tyson (who had an astounding sense of rhythm) and Jake Pearce (poor Jake had a broken ankle but still managed to perform in ‘the show must go on’ fashion. Special mention to the youngest member of the cast Petal Burrough (Cheshire Cat and White Queen); an endearing stage presence to watch out for here.

Malcolm’s tireless efforts with the ACT kids is incredible. They are so lucky to have both him and his colleague Beth Wood, whose handling of the movement and choreography in this production was so effective.

I’ve said it before, ACT, you ROCK. Brilliant show. I can see the new generation of ACT going from strength to strength.