Local, international dance companies offer differing takes on 'Alice in Wonderland'

Mar. 15—When Alice makes her journey to the fictional Wonderland in Lewis Carroll's 1865 children's novel, the world is a wild reflection of what she has known up to that point as reality.

The story's underlying theme of a journey of self-discovery makes it ripe for interpretation. Two of those interpretations will play out on Pittsburgh stages this spring.

"It's such a crucial childhood story," said Kontara Morphis, 34, of Pittsburgh's Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood and artistic director of the K-Theatre Dance Complex. Morphis wrote and choreographed "Underland x Alice," which will debut March 21-22 at the New Hazlett Theater on the city's North Side.

"It's so animated, fun, imaginative, and you can kind of go anywhere your imagination takes you with it," Morphis said. "My story is nowhere near the classic. It's totally different, and it's about a 13-year-old's experience finding truth."

Morphis' version begins in 1920s Oklahoma with the events of the Tulsa Massacre, when a white mob attacked the city's Greenwood District, a well-off Black neighborhood sometimes referred to as "the Black Wall Street." Alice's journey to the world of "Underland" explores themes of generational trauma, personal development, family ties and cultural imagination.

That could be heavy lifting for 15-year-old Ashley Ford of Penn Hills, who will play the role of Alice.

"She's going on this journey, but it's revealing trauma instead of a 'wonderland,' " Ford said. "It's one of the most complicated roles I've had."

Morphis said Underland is a kind of mental escape from the realities people face.

"It's another world for people to kind of reimagine what they're going through in real life," she said. "But at the same time, it's got the elements of a fantastical, imaginative journey."

'Alice' offers surrealistic take

For Moses Pendleton, artistic director of the international touring company Momix, the Alice story is a jumping-off point to create a show chock-full of weirdness and whimsy.

"Momix shows are very connected to what Lewis Carroll did in terms of the surrealism that interested him," said Pendleton, who has been Momix's artistic director for more than four decades. "We took iconic characters from the story, sort of put them through the Momix machine and spun them around."

So while Momix's "Alice," which has toured internationally for several years and comes to the Byham Theater on May 10-11, doesn't have the classic Mad Hatter tea party, it does have a five-minute section devoted to the character.

"We took these oversized food barrels and made one into a hat," Pendleton said. "Then we can use the barrel in certain ways to help create that part of the show. That's a big thing with Momix — taking specific props and combining them with costumes and projections to create new effects."

The Momix version of Alice doesn't just grow and shrink; she also multiplies at some points in the show.

The classic "Mock Turtle" character — a strange combination of turtle and cow in the book — is portrayed in the Momix show in a large, blue inflatable suit. As the turtle becomes more and more melancholy, air is let out and both the suit and character shrink in their sadness.

For "Underland x Alice," Morphis said she plans to take advantage of the unique trappings the New Hazlett's performance space offers.

"I love the catwalks, and we'll be using all of them," Morphis said. "We're building a stairwell that leads to the first level of the catwalks, and we're also using a lot of projection, with three or four projectors creating this dreamy, effects-driven atmosphere."

For Ford, one of the biggest challenges is the acting itself.

"I've done some acting, but not the magnitude of what's in this show," she said. "I also have to not only roller-skate, which is something I've never done before, but I had to learn how to dance on the roller skates."

Ford is looking forward to bringing her version of Alice to the stage.

"On top of the choreography, everyone is bringing a little bit of themselves to their roles," she said. "The character can't come alive until you put yourself into it."

Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.