Royal Ballet (live broadcast) , 15/10/2024

Talbot : Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Artists of the Royal Ballet

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Koen Kessels

It's been seven years since the Royal Ballet last staged Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and to the best of my knowledge this is the third broadcast of it they've done, but I only saw the first, that of the creation, prior to tonight.  Thirteen years on, part of the cast has returned, though not necessarily in their original roles, while the rest are new, and Wheeldon has done some tinkering, because I seem to recall the original being in two acts, and not three.  My impression back in 2011 was of a huge sigh of relief that Wheeldon and Talbot had successfully proven it was still possible to create and produce a new, full-length, narrative ballet, though a couple of the company's other attempts in the aftermath (Frankenstein comes pretty quickly to mind) were not nearly as successful.  Alice, however, was a crowd-pleaser from the get-go, managing to bring us back to Lewis Carroll without meandering through the by-ways of Walt Disney and Tim Burton, and that impression has not faded at all.  The production itself is a dazzling display of stagecraft, tricks old and new brought out to illustrate Carroll's fantastic fable to excellent and frequently very amusing effect, combined with vivid designs, lightly touching on the original Tenniel illustrations without ever being slavishly tied to them.  Of all the designs, the Cheshire Cat is the one that is straight out of Tenniel, and even then, that Cat is an enchanting and ingenious disarticulated puppet, as discombobulating as could be wished for.

There are places where a little trimming might still be judicious, notably in the scene between the Duchess and the Cook.  The pas de deux between Alice and the Knave of Hearts/Jack are not terribly satisfying either, though the best is saved for last and certainly brought out the strongest mutual response from Francesca Hayward and William Bracewell.  Otherwise, Jack/Knave had originally been choreographed for the explosive talents of Sergei Polunin, and Bracewell doesn't have that degree of charisma.  Hayward, on the other hand, is a lovely Alice, all innocence and wide-eyed wonder, fearless and unhesitating.  It was good to see the return of Steven McRae to the stage, after several years of absence due to injury, and his Mad Hatter had all his old, vibrant energy, while Luca Acri was an effective White Rabbit/Lewis Carroll.  

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party
Francesca Hayward (Alice - 2nd from left) and Steven McRae (Mad Hatter - 2nd from right)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Royal Ballet
(© Johan Persson, 2024)

However, the showstoppers come in the last act, and belong to the Queen of Hearts, danced tonight by Lauren Cuthbertson who originally created the role of Alice.  Back in 2011, Cuthbertson's Red Queen was Zenaida Yanowsky, who was all steely power; Cuthbertson's approach smacks rather more of Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, which is different, but just as funny, and she made Wheeldon's fabulous Rose Adagio parody her own.  Like all full-length ballets, Alice is also a company piece, with plenty of set numbers for the corps de ballet, which performed admirably throughout.

In addition to the unquestionably spectacular production, the ballet benefits from a particularly attractive score by Joby Talbot, tuneful, varied and in places quite magical, and which Koen Kessels and the orchestra delivered with special verve tonight, to set the seal on the success of the performance.

[Next : 22nd October]