'Wonderland' express

Playtime with children can often be a surreal experience whiletheir imaginations are still free and untethered by the constraints of growingolder. Thus is MSU Summer Circle’s current interpretation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice inWonderland" (directed by Mary Job) the odyssey of a child atplay being regulated and warped by slightly older children. Based on theoriginal concept by the experimental theater group The Manhattan Project, underthe direction of Andre Gregory, this faithful yet condensed adaptation bringsnew meaning to Carroll’s words with very imaginative physicality.

Even in the humid, stagnant air of a Michigan summer, Jobmakes her actors bend, twist, throw, jump, run, and squat into every animal andobject mentioned throughout “Wonderland.” Sometimes they even simultaneouslyintertwine to form the more complex creatures such as the flame-eyed Jabberwockfrom “Through the Looking-Glass” or Humpty Dumpty with his many handlers. Andwith each creature comes a unique voice or even sounds that help complete theillusion beyond a series of expensive costume changes.

For those completely unfamiliar with “Alice in Wonderland”in any of its forms, the story follows a little girl named Alice who falls downa rabbit hole and experiences various creatures in a dreamlike world beforeessentially “waking up” again. Through the lens of Job and the ManhattanProject, these Wonderland creatures stand in for adults in the real world whohave set up strict and often illogical rules for individuals such as Alice to followwhile the “adults” hypocritically break them.

How clearly this metaphor comes across partially depends onyour knowledge of the British culture in which the original text is based.While Job and her actors do a fine job of enunciating and gesturing potentialmeanings to the audience, the original text remains — for better or worse — nonsensical,and therefore open to satirical spin instead of beholden to it.

Jenn Schafer leads the ensemble as Alice, dressed inoveralls and Converse All-Stars. Schafer’s plucky charm and untiringphysicality brings to mind Gilda Radner from “Saturday Night Live,” althoughSchafer herself never has to put on a childlike voice to become a child.

The rest of the cast consists of Rusty Broughton, KateBusselle, Rachel Frawley, Andrew Harvey, and Jon Wierenga who populate the restof Wonderland as everything from birds to turtles to croquet hoops. Memorablehighlights include Broughton’s aristocratic Dodo bird and the screeching Cheshire-Cat(though not at the same time), Harvey’s Lennon-voiced hookah-smokingcaterpillar, and Frawley’s axe-anxious Queen of Hearts. Equally impressive isAlice’s initial entrance into Wonderland, a size and mind altering experiencethat requires the entire cast to virtually shape-shift.

Nicholas Paola’s costumes evoke a smattering of styles frompost-Victorian to post-modern, while G. Max Maxin IV has designed a set thatconjures a delightfully dilapidated barn attic with its stained wood panels andold clothing chests.

For children or adults, “Alice” is sure to hold yourattention for an intermission-less 90 minutes. Whether you will know at the endwhat it all means is open to interpretation.

8 p.m. Wednesday, June 23 through Saturday, June 26 Summer Circle Theatre Performed at the outdoor theater near Michigan State University’s auditorium Free www.summercircle.org