Alice's Adventures Underground

On Friday the 17^th I went to an immersive theater event in London called ‘Alice’s Adventures Underground’, having been thoroughly intrigued by the posters in the London underground. Check out the website here – it’s worth it! The event took place in The Vaults, a large underground space underneath a train station.

The show started out simply enough: I (and at least thirty other people) was led into a studio strewn with antiques and loose sheets of paper, a slightly chaotic look to the room despite it being big enough for all of us to fit in. Then attention is called to a mirror and the woman trapped within, her voice too faint to catch more than a few phrases – and then we’re off to Wonderland. 

Walking down a winding, cramped corridor completely covered in pieces of paper, we enter a circular room with a spinning, spinning ceiling, Alice’s voice clearly audible as a black shadow of her form runs around and around, slowing gradually to a stop before we are led on into a trompe l’oeil room where we are given the choice: Eat Me, or Drink Me? Depending on our choice we either shrink and file out through a door that is far larger than us, or grow in size and duck through a door that only reaches our shoulders. The group is halved, and from here on out our paths are different, experiencing four separate versions of the same play as we are halved again, the original large group split into suits: Spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. (S.U.I.T = Sanctioned Ultrasensible Identifying Travel Permit. Anyone caught without a suit and number is assured by her Majesty, either they or their head shall be off.)

For the duration of the play I am given a card designating me as the nine of hearts, and with my fellow hearts I am briefed on the more elite status of my suit, all of us charged with the task of finding out just who has committed the heinous crime of planting white roses and disguising them with red paint. 

The subsequent voyage is cleverly done – we pass by other suits, each on their own tour, but these glimpses are brief as we travel through Wonderland and imaginatively arranged rooms, led by a white-faced, short card of hearts. We see Alice struggling to figure out her identity in a mirror room, babysit a rambunctious Tweedledee and Tweedledum as they spin around the room reciting ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’, even hear the Mock Turtle sing a lament under the full moon. 

Just sketches - I apologize that they don't quite do the madness of the show justice! See a few photos here.

Finally we enter a large hall – and the Tea Party begins, several actors gamboling around the room as we spectators sit along the long table. More than once we are roused, the Mad Hatter commanding us energetically to move down one space while the Dormouse sleeps in a metal bathtub in the middle of the table. 

At one point the March Hare runs down the length of the table to offer the Dormouse some butter, for lack of tea, and a squeak sounds from the audience as a glob of butter goes flying. “Oh,” the March Hare looks down from the table in consternation. “Don’t worry; it really is the finest butter!” With that reassurance she runs back down the length of the table to continue the skit, involving a tale of three sisters (three audience members are chosen to illustrate the point; two are male), a riddle (“Why is a raven like a writing desk?”), and other follies before we are all summoned to the Queen’s court.

We find ourselves sorted back into our suits – such distinctions having been briefly forgotten during the tea party – and witnessing a court hearing led by the King and Queen of Hearts. The villain of the piece – the Knave of Hearts – is exposed as being guilty of planting white roses, and his severed head is presented to the room on a platter; the Mad Hatter, March Hare and Dormouse are called upon as witnesses to discover the person who stole the Queen’s tarts, and the court hearing begins to take on nonsensical overtones despite the Queen’s best attempts to quell all nonsense, culminating in the return of Alice through a large mirror and the Red Queen’s banishment through the same mirror, all of us cards lead victorious through the halls by Alice and into the final room – a large bar area with a live band, pies and drinks. 

Having greatly enjoyed the trip that far, I was personally disappointed by the bar (which resembled a barn more than anything else) and left after only cursory exploration of the area, turning over the events in Wonderland in my mind as I stepped out into the crisp and cool night air. Truly, it was a magical experience. 

So, should you find yourself in London before the 31^st of August, and should you find yourself in a Wonderland ruled by the Queen of Hearts, always remember: “All hail the Queen! Coo!”