By John Quinn
A very unusual "Alice" comes alive in Ferndale through Oct. 31. Photo: Copyright Rick Lieder – Dreampool.com
Some theatrical experiences defy description. But a few adjectives come to mind that are applicable to "Alice," the performance organization Nerve's immersive journey through Wonderland. "Unconventional?" Without a doubt. "Unique" – that too. Unsettling? More than a little.
Sometimes it's best to let the artists speak for themselves. "Alice" is Nerve's latest experiment in "consensual theater" in which, according to the company's web site, "It's all about the senses." Nerve is all about "immersive, audience participatory shows in non-traditional spaces." This non-traditional space is the school associated with Drayton Avenue Presbyterian Church in Ferndale. Usually, audiences sit and watch performers. For "Alice," performers meet you in the lobby and sweep you up into the show.
"Alice" is an original work, based on characters and motifs created by Lewis Carroll in his timeless novels "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass, and "What Alice Found There." Regardless of their appeal to the very young, the "Alice" books aren't kid stuff. Carroll was a geometrician, a discipline based on rigid logic. His pair of novels are revels in the illogical, full of elegant word play. What better theme could one adopt for alternative theater than the madness created when a mathematician blows off steam?
"Alice" is highly conceptual, intensely stylized. The costumes and makeup only suggest character; voice and gesture are paramount. Our guide down the rabbit hole is the White Rabbit, who encourages us to explore the installation on our own. Sticking close to the bunny, though, keeps you in the center of the action. Her cohorts include a Mad Hatter and a March Hare, a Cheshire Cat, a Pale King and a malevolent Red Queen. And Alice? She's a raffia-haired puppet that the Rabbit pushes around in a cart.
Classrooms on both sides of a darkened hallway are transformed into "settings" for the play; they are themselves works of art. The attention to detail is striking.
The Hatter may be called "mad," but the fundamental theme of "Alice" is summed up by the evocative observance of the Cheshire Cat, "We're ALL mad here." And indeed, what started out as a romp in a garden of talking flowers descends into a darker, more twisted journey.
In the spirit of ensemble theater, Nerve provides no program for "Alice," but a tour of their website reveals that the core company are Laura Bailey, Steve Xander Carson, Marisa Dluge, Chris Jakob, John Denyer and Kathe Koja. They are familiar faces on Metro stages, but audiences at other venues haven't experienced them quite so up close and personal. This is "immersive" theater; even though participation is "consensual," the production is very much "in your face." But no audience members were harmed in the making of "Alice."
This is an experience for the adventuresome only – the adventuresome and the physically fit. I mean, plays have left me breathless in the past, but not quite in this manner. The painfully shy, like yours truly, can try to hide in the shadows, but it's likely that Red Queen will ferret you out. And that's a fate you really don't want.
REVIEW:
'Alice'
Nerve
at Drayton Avenue Presbyterian Church
2441 Pinecrest Dr., Ferndale
9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, 24, 31
9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, 25
Children 14 and over accompanied by parent/guardian only.
1 hour, 20 minutes; no intermission
$30; $75 Halloween. All tickets are pre-sale only.
248-506-4335
http://www.gonerve.com
