PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — “Alice in Wonderland” goes to middle school this month at People's Light theater in Malvern.
"Alice in Wonderland: A Musical Panto" is playing at People's Light until Jan. 1, 2023.
It is part of People’s Light’s latest edition of their holiday “panto tradition.” Panto is short for pantomime, a British form of theater that puts a musical, comedic twist on a well-known story.
"I thought, okay, 'Alice in Wonderland' - she grows, she shrinks, people are mean to her for no reason, her body's changing, her voice is changing...it sounds like middle school to me," said Jennifer Childs, who wrote the script for the show.
Much like the traditional story, Alice falls into a fantasy land. But in this version, that fantasy helps her navigate changes and figure out who she is in the real world.
The show is made for all ages and encourages audience participation, which is a large part of the panto genre.
There are very specific tropes that the panto uses, like “booing the villain,” Childs said.
“Also, anytime anybody on stage says, ‘Oh, no, you can't’, the audience has to respond, ‘Oh, yes, you can’, and it goes back and forth. Many of the characters talk to the audience and ask questions, and the audience is encouraged to participate."
Another panto tradition is an all-knowing, often gender-playful guide that ushers the audience through the story.
In this performance, the guide is Alice's cat, Dinah, who later becomes the Cheshire cat, played by renowned Philadelphia drag performer, Eric Jaffe.
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Jaffe also serves as the show's drag/gender representation consultant. They hope that other theaters will see this new position at People’s Light and consider adding it to their shows.
“There is a lot of misrepresentation that happens in theater and in media in general,” Jaffe said.
Jaffe noted this misrepresentation may be due, in part, to people having never met a transgender or gender fluid person before.
“All that they know about those people is what they see in the media and what plays on TV, and so having those people represented fairly and equitably is important.”
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The cast has been performing “Alice in Wonderland” for middle schools because they think it’s important to expose kids to different gender identities in stories.
Jaffe says the students easily accept the show's gender-fluid characters.
"Kids are introduced to gender norms so early, without even you telling them, just from the media that they intake,” they say. “So since they already have so much knowledge that comes from one side of the gender spectrum, it really is no different to allow them to experience the other side."
Tickets are available at peopleslight.org.