Anyone driving past The Island Free School this weekend may have seen an eerie green glow through a window or heard the cries of, ‘Off with her head.’ As the sun set the school was transformed into Wonderland for the first Island Free School production. A cast of 35 took on Lewis Carrol’s classic tale of Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass in a year which marks the 150th anniversary of the original publication.

Performed in a promenade style the first half took the audience on a journey around the school, up and down corridors into different spaces for the different scenes. They found classrooms transformed into gardens, a tea party and the Queen of Hearts croquet grounds. All of this made possible by having nine different Alices. The audience were treated to themed refreshments in the interval before settling in the hall for the second half which saw Alice travel through the looking glass on a quest to become a queen in a giant game of chess.

Mrs Steele said, ‘The performance was an absolute triumph. For performers so young they displayed a professionalism far beyond their years and performed with energy and focus. They took the production and made it, and their characters, their own. There are too many great performers to single out individuals but they should all feel rightly proud. They are credit to the school and I am delighted to work with such talent.’

We now start work on our Shakespeare Schools Festival performance which will be performed at Medina theatre in the Autumn Term.