By Emily VonButler
Features Editor
Mira Costa’s Drama and Tech Departments sets up for an outdoor performance of the whimsical Alice in Wonderland, written by
The hour and a half long show started at the steps of the office building, the White Rabbit leading the audience up to the seating area in the Quad. Senior Gigi Panzarella played Alice with Natalie Conner as her ‘shadow’. Senior Ivy Shankle, the older sister and the viscous Queen of Hearts mirrored the beginning and end of the play to create a clean end.
“[The first] performance was something new for me and the audience,” Panzarella said. “It was so much fun to see their reaction to the magic we all created.”
With over 20 students performing and over 20 behind the scenes, the show came together to create an illusionary and whimsical experience. With this being the first in-person performance since COVID-19, the audience was seated outside while the cast continued to wear their masks during practices.
“The most challenging part as Alice was learning everything so quickly due to it being such a fast process,” Panzarella said. “The language of the show was also challenging but I enjoyed every second of it.”
Although this production did not follow the same plot of the original Alice in Wonderland, it included many varieties of the scenes that make this movie memorable. These included playing ball with flamingos, the white rose in the red rose bush, the card knights, the cheshire cat, the Mad Hatter and many more unique scenes and characters. Behind the scenes students controlled lights, made props, and set up the ambiance for the show.
“I would say the hardest part for tech would be constructing the seating platforms and figuring our lighting and sound since we are having the show outside,” Senior Robby Fournell said. “We had to work around how long it would take to setup and then environmental elements like wind and rain.”
The use of simple objects like fire extinguishers created a greater illusion of the setting for which the audience was pulled into. The ‘smoke’ from the mouth of the Jabberwocky and the smoke of the wise caterpillars pipe covered the ground in a smooth cloud-like cover.
“Opening night was great, we had sold out all of our shows by then and so I knew that this was just as important to a lot of people as it is to all of those involved in the production,” Shankle said. “It’s a really unique show and I know that the audience hasn’t seen anything like it.”
Steering away from the original movie, the cast sung songs such as “Good Soup” which was performed by senior Ella Mendleson; The Mock Turtle. The songs added a touch that broke the apart the more serious aspects of the play, adding a lighter touch to offset the Queen of Hearts screams, “Off with their heads.”
“My favorite part of the play is the ending because it is unexpected and meant to provoke inferential thoughts in the audience,” Shankle said.
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