We have all read Alice in Wonderland as kids but The Little Theatre's interpretation was sure different. At the 18th annual Christmas pantomime it was Alice in iland...(no wonder).
Alice is a French maid and herself a-lee-s. She is intrigued by the internet but can't open her own Placebook account.
This is when we are introduced to Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum played by Abishek Joseph and Venkatesh Harinathan. With the help of ifairy, smartly called Fairy Gaga she is granted a wish that ferries her into the exciting world of the internet.
But all is not well and the internet is under threat of being taken over by the Red Queen who is helped by the evil and scheming White Rabbit. Someone needs to save the internet from her evil clutches. Alice uses Doodle Chrome (dressed as a superman with the Chrome logo) to ferry her across and while Dee and Dum are stuck with Ninternet Explorer (dressed as a maami with a cycle).
Alice lands in Farmyville where she gets to know about the crops withering because of the virus and that if something is not done they will all disappear. Along the way she meets White Rabbit, who keeps saying his famous phrase that he's getting late. The white rabbit then meets the Red Queen, Minnie Me, who urge him to hurry up with his task of spreading the virus so that she can take over the world of internet.
With the help of the chef Dee, Dum and Alice find out what's really cooking in the Queen's mind. Dame Pinky Poo, the digital cat, the Caterpillar, his friends dormouse, March Hare and The Mad Hakker help Alice and she finds the lost Jabberwachowsky (who is now infected with a virus put in by the white rabbit and in turn has turned evil) played by Krishna Kumar.
It is in her journey to the core that she meets the dashing Mad Hakker (played by Akriti Sachdev) who knows how to clean and clear viruses. Alice is finally able to overcome the baddies and prevent the Red Queen from taking total control of the internet.
Slapstick comedy, dances, interactive songs, adorable characters, beautifully designed sets, internet jokes make this play a laugh riot. Fasten your seat belts as you enter iland because you are sure to fall off your seat laughing as good triumphs over evil in the end.
RITHANYA, III, PSBB, TNagar: I loved the panto. This is my first time but I know I will be back next year. My favourite characters were Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. I hated the Red queen. The songs and dances were good.
PRIYA, VI, Sri Sankara Vidyalaya: What I really liked about the play was the way it was presented. The jokes and the dialogues were too funny and since I know about the internet it was very easy for me to understand. My favourite character was the Digital Cat and I loved the Digital Cat dance sequence too. In fact all the characters were well portrayed .
KRIS DOIN COLLINS, V, Schram academy: I love watching plays and this is very special to me as we came from our school with our teachers. I loved Mad Hakker and like the fact that he helped Alice to save the Internet from the bad goons. I hated Jabberwachowsky because he was evil and looked it too.
