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“Stories
make us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving.”
Madeleine
L’Engle
On
attending a show at Whitley
Bay Playhouse, I just happened to spot the poster
for Alice in Wonderland: The Musical and I think that I literally jumped for
joy with pure, childish excitement! I’ve loved Alice in Wonderland for well over
ten years now with my obsession starting when I read the book whilst a
sectioned (detained under Section 2 of the 1983 Mental Health Act) inpatient of
a psychiatric hospital. I almost immediately discovered just how beneficial the
level of imagination used in the plot was for my ability to use reading the
book as the opportunity for some emotional and psychological escapism. It
provided me with the chance to really block out my environment and, actually, my
entire situation. It afforded me this amazing skill to just fully immerse
myself in Wonderland, become engrossed in Alice’s adventure, and really become
invested in each of the hysterical, but seriously wise, characters. So –with my
love for Musicals also in mind – seeing this poster was incredibly exciting and
I genuinely pulled my Mum along to the Box Office and bought tickets. Then, I
came home and contacted Immersion Theatre to pitch the idea of this piece being
a collaboration and I’m so honoured to have received a ‘yes!’ and to have been
given the opportunity to actually have a chat with two of their cast.
So, I’ve put together this post full of snippets from my chat with Chris Laishley who plays the Mad Hatter and Meg Matthews who plays both the parts of the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts, as well as a few bits about how I relate to three of my favourite quotes from the Alice in Wonderland story…