The Hills Youth Theatre have once again managed to have youth engaged in live theatre and WOW how they have succeeded. To have around one hundred dedicated performers give a memorable performance without a hitch is incredible. Credit must be given to the entire production crew led by the director Lucy Russell Byrne with the presentation of this adapted play by Di Mason who also along with Tiffany Dewick and the sewing team produced outstanding stunning costumes. There must have been times when the crew thought they were all mad here.
The play starts when we are taken into the dreams of the sleeping Alice played by Livvy Whitehead who did not miss a beat in this leading role. She led us down the rabbit hole into wonderland where we were introduced to the many ‘mad’ characters totalling thirty lead performers all of whom played their parts to perfection. Some of the memorable ones were Maddie Sanders as the White Rabbit showing her acting and vocal clarity, Adelaide Neal the “off with their heads” Queen of Hearts and Lola Bickford as the Cheshire Cat whose movements and facial expressions were exquisite. Tyler Hender as the Mad Hatter and Henrik Dewick as the Lion gave performances that showed their voice projection and acting abilities,
Act 1 included the song ‘Wonderland’ which highlighted the vocal talent of the cast. The scene Garden of Talking Flowers showed the talents of the costume designers and sewing team.
Act 2 commenced with Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee played by Ivy Coligan and Amelie Dewar giving their version of ‘side by side’ much to the enjoyment of the audience.
To comment on every performer is difficult but will reiterate they all gave their all and their enthusiasm became infectious which made the play a joy to watch.
The sets were designed and constructed by a team that allowed sets to be seamlessly moved without the necessity to stop the action which added to the continuity giving the show a professional look.
With a cast this size of young performers it is not surprising that opening night was a full- house and I would suspect that future shows will have similar audiences so book now as this show should not be missed. There are probably some future stars that will further their careers from this performance
