Modern ‘Alice’ is a wonder in B Street’s Family Series

Lewis Carroll’s inquiring Alice has been around for a while, but in a new production at B Street Theatre modernity suits her.

In Greg Alexander’s smartly updated version, Alice (Stephanie Altholz) still becomes lost in Wonderland, but her biggest problem is lack of cellphone reception. If she can’t “like” and be “liked” digitally, is life worth living? She comes across the usual suspects in her adventure, including a white rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire cat, a hookah-smoking caterpillar, and an angry queen going on about “off with their heads!”

While Alice finds herself frustrated by the lack of social status updates at her fingertips, she starts helping the residents of Wonderland with their own issues. Alexander was inspired for his adaptation after hearing teenage girls discussing the tyranny of social media in their lives on a radio documentary.

Noah Agruss has written several catchy short songs to punctuate the lively production, and directors Alexander and Buck Busfield never let the energy flag. Alice helps everyone become a little happier and healthier, and as she finds her way back home, she becomes less concerned about what others are thinking about her as well.

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Modern ‘Alice’ is a wonder in B Street’s Family Series."