Your Chicago Guide’s tickets for two to the press viewing of Alice by Heart courtesy of Kokandy Productions.
Summer is a challenging season for theatres. After all, who wants to spend time indoors on a lovely sunny day? However, some plays are infinitely worth seeing, no matter the weather. If you only see one play this summer, I would hope it will be Kokandy Productions‘ Alice by Heart, currently on stage at the Chopin Theatre in the heart of Wicker Park.
You might have guessed that the play is an interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and you would be correct. And before you start counting how many theatre companies have done Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (and there are a lot!), hear me out. This one is special.
Alice by Heart is a musical, almost completely sung through.
Music is by Duncan Sheik, lyrics by Steven Sater, and a book by Sater with Jessie Nelson. The music is fantastic, the vocal performances do not disappoint, and time literally flies while you perch on the edge of your seat. The audience engagement starts in the lobby, before the doors even open. Characters we later see in the play make intriguing announcements that only make sense later on. Once the seating starts, more characters sneak through the audience for hijinks we get to interpret ourselves. Who are they? Why are they here? Where is this place?
Without giving too much magic away, let me offer some particulars here. In bombed out, World War II London, a handful of people seek shelter underground, inside the London tube. These strangers are thrown together by fear and danger. All of them are suffering in one way or another. Among the group are two teenage best friends, Alice Spencer and Alfred. They grew up together, we come to find out. And their favorite childhood past time was Alice in Wonderland. So much so, they seem to know the book by heart.
Alfred, suffering from tuberculosis, is quarantined. He is, in fact, not expected to live much longer. Alice urges him to escape with her into their cherished book and travel down the rabbit hole to Wonderland. Nurse Cross, who is in charge of keeping everyone safe, rips Alice’s book as a punishment for visiting Alfred, despite his quarantine. Alice becomes very defiant and declares she knows it “by heart” and will read to him anyway.
She reads. Alfred becomes the White Rabbit. The people huddling in the tube morph into book characters of Alice’s imagination. We encounter the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, the Duchess, the Queen of Hearts. The list goes on. The audience’s ride is fast, intensely powerful, and open to interpretation. Alice begs the time to stand still to keep her friend alive. She tries to contract tuberculosis herself, so as to die with him. And finally, she grieves and lets him go, painfully and painstakingly. All the while, the book characters continue their hijinks. The tea party, the trial, the royal croquet, the lobster quadrille… Come for the music, stay for the magic!
The play is wonderful and moving. I would hate to ruin any of the magic, so go see it for yourself. It is well worth your time. Take that leap down the rabbit hole. After all, we are all mad here. We are entirely bonkers. But let me tell you a secret: the best people always are.
Alice by Heart is now playing at Chopin Theatre, 1543 West Division Street, in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets can be purchased here.