WEYBURN - The WCS Senior Theatre Club will spin a modern twist on a classic tale in “Alice @ Wonderland”, April 9, 10 and 11 at 7:30 p.m., with a dessert matinee on April 13 at 2 p.m.
“This is just drama, so it’s just acting, which a lot of people don’t really see here in Weyburn because everything is usually a musical,” said Grade 11 student Harper Williams, who plays Alice.
“It’s very different in the sense where each scene is so creative and fun and there’s no really repeats of sets, and the characters are all big and bright and colourful, so it makes it very entertaining to watch.”
“It’s definitely an original take on a story that everyone knows, and you don’t see dramas much in Weyburn, so I think it’s fresh and new,” said Grade 12 student Maximus Kilback, who plays the King of Hearts.
There will be lots of fun secrets to discover during the play as well.
Of the title character, Alice, Williams said “she plays dumb, but she’s kind of cheeky in a way, where she kind of wants to mess with the characters a bit, so I feel like that would be the secret I’d want them to kind of catch on to.
“I think it’s that King of Hearts has his own voice,” said Kilback. “It’s not just that he’s both meek, but when he needs to be, he’s demanding. He’s definitely subservient to his wife, but then also he has his own voice when he needs to.”
“I think it’s a really fun way to get away from the real world with everything that’s happening outside of our country and in our country,” said Grade 11 student Aralea Strubey-Lark, who plays the Caterpillar. “This will be a nice way for people to come in and celebrate being together and watching something funny.”
“We worked very hard on this. We spent a lot of hours, and I think our talent is something that can be good for the community, and it’s fun,” said Hayden Black, who plays the Queen of Hearts.
One of the very fun elements is that both Gian Zagada and Niegel Zagada play the Cheshire Cat, allowing them to use their very similar appearance to make it look like the character is teleporting across the stage.
“So, you’ll see one of the cats appear at the other side of the stage and then one would go at the other end,” said Gian.
“He changes personality a bunch of times, where sometimes he’s like witty, like very playful, but then he gets serious towards the end.,” said Niegel.
There are also friendships made, and new obstacles to face. Williams said, “Allce gets to meet everyone, but I feel like the person that she gets the most buddy-buddy with would probably have to be the Cheshire Cat, because both of their scenes are very witty, because he asks her a lot of questions.”
“She’s more vulnerable when it comes to that character, because she gets more upset and shows more emotion with that character, and gets less nervous around him, so I’d say that one.”
“She does have a lot of people who are kind of antagonists to her, just because they show her a lot of attitude. So I’d probably say pretty much everybody in the Mad Hatter scene, during the Mad Tea Party, and definitely Humpty Dumpty, because he calls her stupid multiple times, which is funny,” said Williams.
The ironic thing for most of the other Wonderland characters, “is that Alice is perceived as the main villain for a lot of the characters,” said Strubey-Lark.
Even the Queen of Hearts has a softer side to her character. “I think her secret is that she’s very lonely, because she’s so angry all the time, probably doesn’t have a lot of friends, or they pretend to like her.”
Ticket prices for the evening shows are $10 for adults and $8 for students and seniors. The dessert matinee is $15 per person. Tickets are available at the WCS office.
