Poster Design by Ashleigh Russell
No Porpoise Productions Presents
ALICE IN WONDERLAND:
A Tale with No Porpoise
By Katie Leamen
Freely adapted from the stories by Lewis Carroll
In a new twist on an old favourite, six actors take on twenty-five characters in a ridiculous romp through a physical comedy of madness. With a virtuosic ensemble under the direction of award-winning actor-directors Lynne Griffin and Sean Sullivan, Katie Leamen’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND: A Tale with No Porpoise tumbles into Dancemakers Theatre on February 12th-16th.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND: A Tale with No Porpoise: For new audiences, old audiences, and people new to being an audience, the only porpoise of this show is to make Wonderland wonderful, theatre magical and everything absolutely absurd. A loving ode to Lewis Carroll’s familiar favourite, the cast of six wallows in the madness of Wonderland which means you should expect “the change of something strange”.
“The time has come (the Walrus said)” for Toronto audiences to meet the six emerging artists engineering this physical reinvention of the classic. Under the deft direction of husband-wife duo Sean Sullivan and Lynne Griffin (most recently recipients of the Critic’s Pick for San Diego Fringe and Hamilton Fringe for their globe-trotting one man show, Baby Redboots’ Revenge), Chris George (The Odyssey, Driftwood Theatre; Alice in Wonderland, Merry Wives of Windsor, Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare by the Sea), Carolyn Lawrence (Stalled, Natural Progression Theatre/Fringe 2013; The Princess of Porn, Me and Snow White Productions/Fringe 2012), Katie Leamen (first time playwright, acting credits include No Sex Please, We’re British!, Upper Canada Playhouse; Move Over Mrs. Markham, StageWest), Natalie Morgan (Grounded in Fantasy, Accidental Crossroads; The Greedy Fisherman, Clay & Paper Theatre), Mark Palumbo (Stalled, Natural Progression Theatre/Fringe 2013; The Girly Show, Chaos Factory), and Lindsay Sippel Eitzen (Comedy of Errors, Much Ado about Nothing, Humber River Shakespeare; School Tour, BigKid Entertainment) are ready to take Toronto by storm in this whirlwind of chaos, quick changes and colourful characters. Stage management by Luke Bramer (Ravenscroft, Man of Mode, Essex Theatre). Technical direction by Zach McKendrick (recipient of the LLBT Drama Award, UTSC).
““By trading in elaborate sets in exchange for physical choreography and resourceful use of minimal props, the creative team are on to something … Truly able to capture the magic of Alice’s strange journey… wonderfully staged.” ”
No Porpoise partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto for a special performance, the goal being to introduce youth to live theatre who might not otherwise have opportunities to see it. Here are some responses we received:
“I thought it was a terrific show, really inventive and entertaining.”
“This was a great event we both loved!!!!”
“My little one had an amazing time, he loved that you were encouraged to laugh to motivate the actors and he thought it was one of the best shows he had ever seen.”
“Great event! Very enthusiastic crew! I think the younger kids like it especially because they sure had lots of questions! Great way to introduce kids to the arts.”
“We had a great time! Alyssa loved it and thought it was hilarious! We would definitely see something like this again :)”
“The play was amazing. Really creative group of folks.”
Left to Right (ish): Lindsay Sippel Eitzen (Giant Cookie), Darcey Giffin (Darth Vader Helmet), Chris George (Happy Place), Mark Palumbo (Teapot), Natalie Morgan (Birthday Cake Hat), Adrian Eitzen (Doctor Puppet), Andre Morin (Sequin Hat), Carolyn Lawrence (Bowler Hat), Luke Bramer (Crown), Lynne Griffin (Cheshire Cat Smile), Katie Leamen (Tea Cosy with Ears), Sean Sullivan (Plaid Fedora, but what's with the creepy hards?)