RICH LOPEZ | Staff Writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com
The story is technically the same, but, in the new production by Plague Mask Players (PMP), an updated story and a modern approach to an old classic will make its Dallas premiere on Thursday, April 17.
In Alice: A Variation on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland by playwright Ava Vito, Alice Pleasance Liddell has to look past her her parents’ apathy to discover her inspiration which happens to be through the looking glass. Once she steps through, she has to confront her deepest fears by way of a cat, a hare and an irate queen.
PMP opens the show by way of AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project. It runs through April 27 at the Wyly Studio Theater.
Director Samantha Calatozzo Cobb (she/her) saw the show first in college and now introduces this Alice to Dallas audiences.
“Initially, it was an all-female cast with seven actors,” she said. “We”’re keeping some things from the original, but we’re changing a lot of things, which I’m very excited about.”
The show is cast completely with women and nonbinary actors. Additionally, outside of a couple of roles, the crew’s makeup is also all women and nonbinary people. And while the story itself isn’t all that queer, the cast and crew do bring a rainbow lens to the production.
Also, this isn’t out of PMP’s usual approach. The company often looks to cast those actors who can bring an added representation to their stage. Cobb wants to change the face of casting but at the same time, cast the best actors.
“It’s been a thread throughout, where we have wanted to let people who don’t normally get to see themselves represented on stage be represented, particularly in classics,” she said. “I’ve done some research, and I find that 70 percent of paid actor contracts for plays in the United States went to men, and I think that’s largely because that’s who the parts are written for.
“So it was important to me to use this story to bring forward women, nonbinary, genderfluid actors who don’t get a shot in classics very often. I’mv very proud of that.”
With this story, Cobb adds, so many characters don’t exist on a binary in the first place, “So why should our actors?”
Cast member Henri Sudy (they/them) finds a comfort in this experience. Sudy plays multiple characters — all with a specific identifier.
“Sometimes walking into a room as a nonbinary person is a little bit intimidating, because maybe there’s not actually a place for me. So it was just very freeing to be able to go and just play and have fun. That is what is just so lovely about this process,” they said. “And it’s been fun for me to explore and play and pretend with these over-the-top characters, but also because everyone is so welcoming and vulnerable and encouraging.”
That, after all, is PMP’s total vibe.
The fairly new company —– which started right as the pandemic hit — has a simple mission to “love people, tell stories.” And, in today’s climate, the company proudly touts its DEI Statement in its work and on its website.
“We pride ourselves on putting in that extra effort,” said Cobb said, who also serves as PMP’s executive director. “That matters deeply to us, and it’s a cool way to see how people who are maybe outside the box all the time can be so creative once they’re in.”
There are some parallels here with the company’s next production.
Cobb sees this story as an examination of inner strength, but she also sees how it’s used to inspire creativity rather than cope with trauma: Alice finds a world that, while it may be strange and colorful, is also accepting. She has a distant family, but her encounters in Wonderland teach her more about herself, ultimately allowing her to find strength in confronting that which challengers her.
“This is a very different take on the story, but with all her fear and doubt, she gains these incredible tools to tell her own story,” Cobb explained.
For Sudy, this show is a chance to not only work in a creative space, it is also a chance to work as their authentic self.
“I am so happy to be here, and it’s great to know I can walk into a space where my pronouns are going to be correct,” they said. “It’s nice to be seen but then also to take that with all the brain space we’re using and put that into art.”
For tickets, visit ATTPAC.org.