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Synopsis

Quick Synopsis

Anne Coulter Martens’ theatrical adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic follows young Alice as she tumbles down a rabbit hole into the absurdist world of Wonderland. Desperate to find a way back home, Alice navigates a series of illogical encounters with whimsical characters—including the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum—before having to stand trial against the tyrannical Queen of Hearts.

Full Synopsis

The play opens with Alice sliding to the bottom of a long drop down the rabbit hole. Though enchanted by the colorful environment, she quickly realizes she is lost and wants nothing more than to return home to her everyday life.

As she wanders through Wonderland searching for an exit, Alice encounters a cast of eccentric inhabitants. She seeks directions from the anxious, perpetually late White Rabbit and the enigmatic Cheshire Cat, who answers her questions in riddles and speaks in nonsensical logic. She crosses paths with a moody, advice-giving Caterpillar sitting on a mushroom, a chaotic Duchess and her peppercorn-obsessed Cook, and the bickering twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

Her journey takes her to the iconic Mad Tea-Party, where the Mad Hatter, March Hare, and a sleeping Dormouse subject her to endless riddle-spouting and seat-swapping. Realizing none of the residents can give her a straight answer, Alice decides her best chance at finding a way out is to seek an audience with the ruler of the realm, the Queen of Hearts.

Alice makes her way to the royal garden, where she finds playing-card gardeners hastily painting white roses red to avoid the Queen's wrath. The volatile Queen arrives and immediately demands a chaotic game of croquet, where live flamingos serve as mallets and card soldiers bend into wickets. Tensions peak when the Queen discovers someone has stolen her tarts.

A courtroom trial is called to prosecute the supposed thief of her tarts, Alice. The King and Queen preside over a absurd legal process filled with irrelevant testimony from the Hatter and the Cheshire Cat. Furious at Alice's defiance, the Queen issues her famous command: "Off with her head!" Alice realizes the creatures of Wonderland are nothing more than a deck of cards, enabling her to break free from the nightmare and safely escape back to the real world.