Wonderland

hmmm .Terrific cast but just missed the mark ... http://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/wonderland-2/ Some people do need to have happy ever afters’. This is an intense, intriguing work with solid performances and excellent technical aspects, and the idea behind it is terrific , but I am afraid it just misses the mark. The title I gather comes from what Lucy says at one point – ‘Being in love is like travelling through Wonderland’ .Young lovers Lucy and Max bitterly blame each other for the collapse of their relationship. WONDERLAND has been written by Alexandra Howard, who also plays Lucy opposite Samuel Doyle as Max. It has just had a short season in Canberra before this Reginald run. From the moment we enter the auditorium to take our seats, and for quite a lot of the play, the action is constrained and focused on Lucy (Alexandra Howard) and Max (Samuel Doyle ) in spotlights on their black chairs upon raised platforms. The soundtrack, when appropriate, is pulsating and fragile. The play looks at our expectations as children and how they change when grown up, – what are the grown up rules and how do we learn them? Do Lucy and Max have unreasonable expectations of their relationship? The work is about love, how our illusions are shattered as we grow up, and attempts to find out what people want from relationships. What is happiness? As Lucy says at one point, It is all a question of ‘value’? Is love all you need? What are the differences, if any, between the expectations of men and women in a relationship? Huon Manningdale’s lighting is magnificent, clear when required, ominously spooky and threatening when needed. There is a feeling of childlike wonder with the fantastical set designed by Andrew Grenfell,- the paper stars and mobile and the moon design on the sheets for the huge double bed. Art and theatrical drama collide as we enter a vibrant set similar to that of Wonderland in Alice’s story. (I liked the huge giant face sculpture with shattered teeth that from a certain distance appeared like a cityscape, and the spiky lines of the tree branches). The strange, detailed set could be said to represent the ‘ monsters ‘ or dark side hidden within Lucy and Max as they (surprise ,surprise) are reminded that fairytales don’t exist in the real world,— especially when it comes to relationships. Both Lucy and Max have monologues and talk to each other at times there are overlapping speech patterns and question and answer and sometimes one or the other acts as narrator for the show. Very handsome, bearded Doyle as Max performs with great intelligence and conviction and shows us flashes of moments of drama to vary the rather one note tone of the work. Howard, as Lucy, in a beautiful white lace dress, digs deep for her performance but it is rather difficult to connect because of her intense, idiosyncratic and inward looking approach. Memories of young love generally fade as we age, making it easy to forget the variety of strong emotions we felt earlier in our lives. WONDERLAND is an ambitious work written and performed by a young woman about love and romance that didn’t quite work.. Running time 1 hour 40 (approx) including one interval A Lexx production, Alexandra Howard’s WONDERLAND played at the Reginald Theatre, the Seymour Centre between the 8th and the 12th April.