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Down the rabbit hole: Valley Players follow Alice

'Things are getting curiouser and curiouser," Alice observes, after tumbling down a rabbit hole and then crying a pool of tears that nearly drowns birds and a dormouse. And the curiousness of her adventures is just beginning. A Cheshire Cat, hookah-smoking caterpillar, mock turtle, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, a hatter and a hare (both mad), a cranky duchess, and an array of royalty are among the peculiar characters she is about to encounter.

Nonsense is the order of the day as Alice, minding her manners as much as possible, navigates this world of absurdity. It's not an easy task between the puns – including a mouse's long tale and a caucus race with no winner – and the quirky very colorful inhabitants.

For the next two weekends, Alice and the denizens of Lewis Carroll's nonsensical world will be on the stage in Waitsfield. Beginning Friday, May 14, the Valley Players will present "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."

"'Alice in Wonderland' is a story I have always loved," said Shannon Pitonyak, director of the Valley Players production. "I wanted to do a show to get theater out there to children. Theater and storytelling were really important to me as I was growing up and I have wanted to share that."

"I looked at many scripts and liked this adaptation because it combines both Alice books. For example, it has the Queen of Hearts from the first book, while the Red and White Queens are from the second," Pitonyak said.

"This is a lighthearted fanciful version. It's a nice mix with all the favorite characters," she said, "and it moves quickly."

Alice and the rabbit hole characters first appeared in print in 1865 in Charles Dodgson's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Dodgson, who wrote under the nom de plume Lewis Carroll, was an Oxford University don, a mathematician, and a friend to the Liddell family. He originally told a version of the story to the three Liddell daughters; the youngest, Alice, pressed him to write it down. (Listen carefully to the dormouse's story for the girls' names – Elsie (L.C.), Tilley, and Lacey, a near-anagram for Alice.)

With its sophisticated wit, clever puzzles, amusing characters and non-moralizing story line, "Alice in Wonderland" found instant popularity with children and adults including Queen Victoria.

A few years later, in 1871, Dodgson's sequel, "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There," was published. The chess figures, the Tweedles, the poems "The Walrus and the Carpenter" and "Jabberwocky" belong to this volume.

Along with "Alice's" appeal to children and families, the show had a further attraction for Pitonyak.

"I thought it would be fun for actors as adults to have the opportunity to not be human – to be a rabbit, or turtle," Pitonyak said. "We've worked very hard to bring out the characters. Believability is one of the things I have always worked on — getting the audience to believe that you are your character – even if you're a cat or caterpillar."

"We have seasoned actors and relatively new people in the cast," said Pitonyak. "They are from 12 years old up through the ages." Altogether, she explained, the 17 actors perform 36 parts.

"We have people from all around central Vermont — the Mad River Valley, but also Plainfield, Rochester, Stowe and elsewhere," said Pitonyak who now lives in Barre. "It's a fantastic cast," she said, "and we have had a lot of fun." Pitonyak's 6-year-old daughter even makes a cameo appearance.

Haley Behn of Warren, a Harwood Union High School sophomore, is the Valley Players' Alice.

"This is Haley's second appearance as Alice – she was previously in a middle school musical version," said Pitonyak. "Haley has brought forth the best Alice I could hope for and does a fantastic job. She brings out Alice's curiosity in her adventures and also her feeling that she would like to get back home."

"To give the show its fanciful feeling, I wanted the right costumes," said Pitonyak who credits Michaelene Paquette, Marie Schmukal and Janey Ellison with doing "an amazing job."

Fast-paced and colorful, the Valley Players' production has families and children in mind. Running about 90 minutes, it is comfortable for even very young audience members.

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