Eastern Student Julia Leitao of New Britain Performs in "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland"

2015 Mar 10

A group of Eastern Connecticut State University students recently performed in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" as part of a children's theatre course.

Julia Leitao '18 of New Britain, CT, was one of the students who acted in the production. Leitao's major is Pre-Early Childhood Education and Theatre. Leitao said, “My favorite part of the play was the audience interaction, because the children really lit up when they were included. You could tell that they believed they were in Wonderland and actually played a part in the story.”

"When presented with the task of performing children's theatre, Alice is an obvious choice," said Theatre Lecturer Lenore Grunko, who directed the students in their performance.

Most people are familiar with the story of Alice in Wonderland, whether by reading the original book by Lewis Carroll or seeing the film adaptation. Nonetheless, each adaptation is unique. According to Grunko, "I intended to have the students perform a play that elementary students could attend here at Eastern. I decided on 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' because we all need to learn about her fear, bravery and yes, even her foolishness."

The cast and crew of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" put their own twist on the story, using their imagination to create elaborate costumes and encourage audience interaction, making the performance distinct and memorable. The cast consisted of six actors, several of whom played multiple characters. "Flow, weight, time and space were all part of the formula for exploring possibilities that would eventually become our defining characters," said Grunko. "Mixing and matching movement, voice, accents and anything else that the actors brought to the table was considered part of the process to develop our versions of this much beloved tale."