Kooky. Eccentric. Wacky. These are all words cast members used to describe this year’s upper school play, “Le Gallienne and Friebus’ Alice In Wonderland,” a contemporary adaptation of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll.
The play follows 16-year-old Alice and her journey after taking a step through the looking glass. During Alice’s expedition full of bent rules and whimsical happenings, she encounters classic characters — including the Mad Hatter, White Rabbit and Cheshire Cat. While the reimagining largely stayed true to the original, it took a modern approach in which characters and scenes were adjusted to better fit the present world.
Assistant director Rachel Michiel (’25) provided notes to actors during rehearsals, organized crew members before performances, moved props on and off stage, blocked her own scene and fulfilled other tasks to assist with the play’s production. Michiel said the additional attributes and quirks to characters made them relatable to today’s world and audience.
“We’re doing [‘Alice in Wonderland’] in a modern sense of telling a 16-year-old girl’s story through girlhood with these really almost outdated words and language,” Michiel said. “To translate those [lines] into the story and emotions we’re trying to tell was really difficult, and so we would talk through each scene and be like, ‘Okay, how do we see this in the real world?’”
Auditions for the play began in mid-January, and rehearsals occurred Monday through Thursday every week until performances took place in the Blackbox theater March 15 and 16. Additionally, the cast held both a faculty show and play preview for upper school students March 14. Senior Sadie Long has been a part of Archer’s theater program since her freshman year and played the March Hare.
“Very kooky, kind of crazy and nonsensical would be the best way to describe a lot of my lines — they don’t make a lot of sense,” Long said. “No normal person would really be speaking in the way the March Hare speaks … but that’s kind of the fun of it is figuring out how to deliver the lines and parse out the meanings in the midst of all the nonsense.”
Junior Hayden Seid, who played the White Rabbit, joined Archer theater five years ago. She said the play’s supportive atmosphere and cast was a highlight of her Archer theater experience this year.
“Getting to work with incredible cast has been so fun. Every single show, we always have so much fun working together,” Seid said. “ [Archer theater’s] really given me a place of belonging. It’s very accepting no matter what and just a really great time with very supportive, lovely people.”
Long said, regardless of previous theater experience or background, every actor learns from one another, which is what makes Archer theater a special experience full of unity and love. Since this production was her last time performing on an Archer stage, Long said she felt both happy and sad prior to the performances.
“It’s definitely very bittersweet, but I wouldn’t change it. I’m so glad that I did Archer theater,” Long said. “I definitely think it allowed me to find my confidence and my voice as a person and as a performer. It’s been a great experience, and I’m really grateful for it. I’ll be sad to leave, but I know that I’ll continue those friendships and bonds.”
Seid said her favorite part of theater is exploring new perspectives and mindsets, trying on different characters and sharing stories with others. Prior to the performances, Seid said she was looking forward to presenting what the cast members have been working on over the past two months with others.
“I’m really excited,” Seid said. “We’ve worked really hard, and the best part is sharing it with the Archer community because everyone’s always really excited to see it, and we’re very eager to show people what we’ve been working on.”
Over the course of the production, Michiel said she focused on fostering a positive and fun environment where every cast member held creative freedom over their character.
“Because this is an upper school play, all the actors are so capable, so I think it should be more of a community-decision based environment,” Michiel said. “I believe in letting cast members have the space to find their own character, and how they want to fit into the show. I would then just provide notes on that. Another thing I found myself doing was connecting with actors individually and being like, ‘Hey, what do you think this scene means to you?’ or, ‘What does this line feel to you?’”