Delaware Valley High School will present its own stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice" novels on Thursday through Friday at 7 p.m. The play is titled "We're All Mad Here."
ALEXANDRIA TWP. - Delaware Valley High School will present its own stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice" novels on Thursday through Friday at 7 p.m. The play is titled "We're All Mad Here."
A child-friendly matinee will be presented on Saturday at 11 a.m. followed by a Hatter's Tea Party.
Frenchtown senior Emma Eisenbeil is enjoying the role of Alice, whom she sees as "a girl who is curious about the world, but at the same time is very content in living in her own version of it. She's very clever, solving her way through endless riddles in the show. She definitely has no shame in showing when she is frustrated or upset." That makes her "a very entertaining character to play."
For Emma, the highlight of the show is the mad tea party. "There's a lot going on, so if you're in the audience you won't want to blink because you'll probably miss something silly that the Mad Hatter or March Hare does. There's a lot of energy and comedic aspects in this scene, and it's just a lot of fun to perform it," says Emma.
She expects that Nick Gilmore as the Hatter and Joshua Nilsen as the Hare will be crowd-pleasers. They "bring the characters to life with their own witty twists and bring a lot of light and energy to every scene they're in." They are both juniors from Holland Township.
Emma says she is "surrounded by some of Del Val's best actors on the stage who are really working hard to get this show to where we want it to be." But "the most challenging aspect of the show would have to be the technical side of it, with all of our props, sets, and even videos we plan on incorporating into the production." She calls these "the more Wonderland-esque additions to the show."
Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" were adapted for the stage by Del Val teachers Chris James and Tara Civitillo, who are also directing the show.
Filling the other main roles are Alexandria Township senior Sage Lau as the Caterpillar; Alexandria senior Alexa Parkinson as the Cheshire Cat, Kingwood Township sophomore Hallie Koches and Holland sophomore Tanner Bertoldo as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, and Holland senior Peter Hannon as the Doctor.
If you don't recall any doctor in Carroll's books, that's because in this adaptation Alice needs medical attention.
The rest of the cast is Gabe Schumacher, Dormouse; Natalie Martin, Lorna (Alice's minder); Brittany Hill, the Red Queen; Aaron LaPaix, the White Rabbit; Logan White, the King; James Mason, the Father; Grace Yaros, the Son; Jake Mickey, the Carpenter; Nick Novack, the Walrus; and Rachel Baransky, the Oysters. The Cards are played by Ashley Diem, Veronica Eggleston, Nuala Fitzsimmons, Julianna Hinrichson, Marco Malspina, Will Pearce and Amanda Rezes.
Tickets cost $5 for students and $8 for most adults. Admission is free for senior citizens. Tickets will be available at the door. But reservations should be made for the children's tea party, which costs $3 extra; send an email to Theater@dvrhs.org.
Delaware Valley High School is at 19 Senator Stout Road, Alexandria Township (GPS address: Frenchtown).
Submitted by Rick Epstein