Alice

This is the 40th anniversary year of the formation of The Young Theatre at North Harrow which became some seven years later, The Young Theatre at Beaconsfield.

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, first published Alice in Wonderland in 1865 and YTG's production followed the story line in most details with Lewis Carroll himself (John Sharman) narrating from a corner of the stage. Lara Henry was perfectly cast as Alice. She looked the part, spoke clearly and acted confidently while Holly Le Ber Smith danced about the stage and auditorium as the exhausting White Rabbit. All the familiar and wonderful creatures from Carroll's imagination were well represented but I particularly liked the Blue Caterpillar, cleverly staged with Ben Crowden's head appearing above a painting of the creature. The infamous Mad Hatter's Tea Party went down a storm, as did the crazy croquet party.

The first half flowed nicely but the second half lacked pace and I feel this may be because the script seemed to lose direction a little - too many fill-ins and not enough story line perhaps. Overall the production was colourful, happy, well directed, very well acted and well received by the audience.

The Young Theatre at Beaconsfield is at the forefront of youth theatre in this county and it was a privilege to see yet another excellent production from such a talented group. Long may they reign.