Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Over the past few months here at the Royal Ballet,

there's been an intoxicating buzz in the air -

along the corridors, in the rehearsal rooms -

as everyone prepares for this brand-new production of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland.

And much to my surprise and delight, I'm a small part of this.

I've been invited to take on the role of the Duchess.

This is the company's first full-length narrative ballet

with newly-commissioned score for 20 years.

They've chosen Christopher Wheeldon who trained at the Royal Ballet as choreographer,

and Joby Talbot to compose the score.

Along with a fabulous cast peppered with some of the finest dancers in the world.

Lewis Carroll's vivid story of Alice and her encounters

with the intriguing characters that inhabit Wonderland

has become part of our national DNA.

Since its publication in 1865, the book,

along with its famous illustrations by Sir John Tenniel,

has never been out of print,

inspiring generations of composers, artists, film-makers

and choreographers in a search for the eternal spirit of childhood.

Alice In Wonderland is the curious tale of a young girl

from our ordinary world who, one summer afternoon, falls down a rabbit hole,

and then experiences a series of extraordinary adventures.

It also is at heart, of course, the tale of a child

coming to terms with the chaotic and complex adult world around her.

In this production, Alice is played by Lauren Cuthbertson,

one of the rising stars of the Royal Ballet.

In the book, Alice says at one point,

"I don't want to go among mad people."

To which the cat replies, "You can't help that. We're all mad here.

"I'm mad, you're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," replied the cat. "Else you wouldn't have come here."

You could only see the dark side of the Lewis Carroll tale.

The violence, the, you know...

the suggestion of hallucinogenic properties.

Um...

But there's also...an innocence about it

that has kept it as a fairytale,

has kept it as a children's story.

We begin in the world of Alice in the real world,

at a garden party in Oxford.

And all the characters that then she encounters in Wonderland

become caricatures of the people that arrive at this little garden party.

Stand by, please. House lights to half for the announcement. House lights out,

conductor's light up and down.

Stand by.

APPLAUSE

HE HOOTS

ALL HOOT AND HOLLER

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

So, as the Queen once again shatters any chance of friendship between Alice and the Knave,

time for a short break while they prepare the stage for Act Two.

This is the first time I've worked with the Royal Ballet,

needless to say,

and it's also the first time that I've worked in full drag,

so it's been a fascinating experience.

Watching the company prepare this ballet has been a revelation.

Their capacity for relentless hard work and their commitment

to their art has been wonderful for me to witness.

A particular joy has been getting to know Lauren Cuthbertson

who's playing Alice. Her performance is a real tour de force.

As we've just seen in Act One,

she doesn't stop dancing for something like 70 minutes,

which must be unprecedented.

Developing the stamina to achieve this has been a major challenge

as she explained breathlessly during rehearsals.

It sure is tiring. There's 14 scenes in Act One

and Alice is in every single one of them.

But it was really good to give it a good go

and to realise the continuity of it

and how you cannot stop if there's a minor error,

and if you want to change or tweak something you can't.

It's a live show and you just have to keep going

and stay in character, and that was the joy of doing it -

because you find that you grow to know Alice

even more just by doing it with no stops.

And you can react to all the different characters without a break

and getting a drink of water and getting notes from Chris,

so it was really useful, but I'm so tired!

In this ballet Alice is a little bit older than she is in the book.

She's more like 15...yeah, 15 years old.

She's ahead of her time,

and she's ahead of her time in the original story.

She's a bright kid, and she, I think, is a little bit uncomfortable

with the restriction of being a Victorian child.

She's almost a contemporary child in the wrong era.

One of the major aspects of this staging is

the fabulous design.

For Bob Crowley the challenge was to create something new and enthralling,

yet to remain within the spirit of the original children's book.

I tried to get around the whole John Tenniel,

the illustrated side, because that's what's in my head.

I grew up with those illustrations.

We had to have one reference.

I thought it would be perverse not to.

And I knew what it would be. I knew it would be the Cheshire Cat.

That was the only time. I thought we should reference that because I think

you'd be cheating the audience out of the pleasure of that,

and the way round that was not to do it

as an illustration, but to make the illustration three dimensional.

So that's where the Cheshire Cat came from.

'This is the main house call, ladies and gentlemen,

'this is your beginners' call

'for Act Two of Alice. Beginners to the side stage please.

'The red light is still on. Ladies and gentlemen of the orchestra

'to the pit please...'

That's the Act Two beginners' call,

but I'm not on for 10 minutes or so which gives me a chance to listen to

the marvellous score by Joby Talbot, played by

the Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House, under the mercurial baton

of Barry Wordsworth.

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE CONTINUES THROUGHOUT CURTAIN CALLS

That's the end of the show. It's coming to the end of my time here.

So... I'm going to miss it terribly.

It's been an enormous privilege working with this company.

I'd love to do it again. I don't suppose I will!

This is the choreographer, Christopher!

So that brings us to the end of this brand-new production

of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland.

As the performers take their bows,

it's worth reflecting on the Royal Ballet's achievement

in creating such a wonderful production.

It's been a sell-out run, and it's been thrilling for this huge cast

to be part of a major hit.

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