Showing @ Festival Theatre until 23rd April

Blending both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass into one tale Ashley Page and Antony McDonald’s production Alice for Scottish Ballet has all the characters you know and love with one key addition, that of Lewis Carroll himself who appears throughout as Alice’s protector and guide. It’s an intriguing idea and Erik Cavallari’s Carroll proves to be a powerful and sensitive presence but whilst it worked well with Carroll as interloper in his own creation it became more complicated and disturbing in the quiet moments between the author and his muse.

Whilst Page and McDonald have gone to great pains to insist that nothing in this show hints at an inappropriate relationship between Alice and Carroll the intimacy of the pas de deuxs between Cavallari and Sophie Martin’s Alice had an uncomfortable suggestion of possession about them which is difficult to square with their denials. However as their Alice isn’t meant to be a child but a girl on the cusp of womanhood it might mitigate against any stirrings of unease the audience might feel.

Alice’s other pairings with Adam Blyde’s superbly flamboyant Spanish Caterpillar and Lewis Landini’s Humpty Dumpty provided two sublime moments and perfectly matched by Robert Moran’s score they were highlights of the evening. Also superb was the croquet match which was a crazed and cacophonous delight.

The dancing of all involved was of course excellent – as you would expect from Scottish Ballet and apart from those already mentioned there were some stand out performances notably Tomomi Sato as a puckish White Rabbit, Brenda Lee Gresch and Bethany Kingsley-Garner as the Tweedles and the dark brooding presence of Owen Thorne as the Jabberwock, here re-imagined as a tortured executioner.

McDonald’s simple yet affective sets combined with Annemarie Woods’ Gilliamesque video projections provided a perfect surreal backdrop to the performance and Mcdonald’s witty costumes, referencing various artists, added greatly to the characterisations.

Ultimately, this was an enjoyable but ephemeral experience. Page’s choreography wavered between the absorbing and the repetitious with some scenes continuing well past the point their charms had worn off and there were also missed opportunities for spectacle with scenes such as the lobster quadrille which was noisy, cluttered but essentially shapeless.

These quibbles aside this was still an enjoyable take on these headspinningly odd books and whilst those familiar with the stories might take slightly more away from this production than the uninitiated those unfamiliar with the tales will still be able to get a great deal of pleasure from this  brillig not to mention frabjous production.