REVIEW: Collingwood RSC Alice in Wonderland,

The Millennium Hall, HMS Collingwood, Fareham

DIRECTOR Sarah Miatt has written a new version of this perennial favourite, with a nod to the recent Tim Burton version, featuring a selection of Pantomime cliché characters to enhance the story. So Dame is Alice's Mother ( a very comedic on form Robin Sheppard) about to be evicted by best friend Will's ( a very likeable Buttons like Joe Allan) father landlord, before all three being enticed down the rabbit-hole of old with the udderly laden Buttermilk the cow, artfully played by Chris Blatch-Gainley. With a bonkers Mad-Hatter, a street-wise Pompey Cool Cat and outrageous Red Queen, Alice (a warm yet feisty interpretation by Abi Philo) weaves her way, via excellent puppetry and a wonderful cameo by Kirsten Carmichael as the Caterpillar, to the deserved happy ending.

David Putley