We are avid theatre goers as you may well know. I write about our experiences of the stage on my blog often and I love that I get to take my children to see such a wide and varied amount of children’s theatre – we are very lucky as it’s an experience that is so wonderful for them.

Our favourite theatre venue for children has to be Polka in Wimbledon (nowhere near where I live) because they consistently produce such fabulous works of art and to go with the experience they offer so much more than the show itself. Going to Polka can be a whole day out and Florence and Jimmy look forward to every aspect; from lunch on the train and playing in the garden to the actual performance and more… There’s the teddy bear museum, an indoor play area with rocking horses, books, crafting and even a puppet theatre to create your own performance. Workshops often run (we must do one), classes and courses and for children wanting to get INTO the theatre as a hobby or even a profession I think it could be a first class initial stepping stone. The introduction they offer new babies up to 13 year olds is simply brilliant and it’s a charity too so with not a lot of money they are pushing some pretty awe inspiring boundaries…

I have been invited to many of their shows in order to review in the past. We’ve not come away thinking anything other than wonderful on any of those occasions! A few of our favourites have been Too Many Penguins, which we saw around this time last year, Lullaby, a performance for babies under one and a most magical day out for Jimmy and I and then more recently, Gorilla, (still showing now) which we thought was SO super and fabulous that it even makes me smile broadly as I write and think about it!

We have never been to see such a big show as the one we went to see today though! Today we saw Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland which is a two hour performance with a proper interval; proper grown up theatre for little’n’s I’d call it! ‘Alice’ is in the main theatre at Polka. They have different performance areas but it’s always very exciting when we see something in the main space and it set the scene for something spectacular as soon as we took our seats!

The set which sees Alice and her sister playing in their bedroom is more sophisticated than others I have seen at Polka. Not better but definitely more grown up and I wondered if perhaps at nearly 4 (when the age advised is 6+) it might all go over Florence’s head and she might not enjoy it? I didn’t need to worry though as I soon saw her joining in with actions as the cast sang and I could tell she was following and keeping up with the story which I had briefed her on before we arrived.

I’d say the story is quite true to Lewis Carroll’s classic original although I’m not tremendously familiar with all the ins and outs of it. Certainly the famous parts are all there and although this one is set more in modern day I’m not sure that really is an issue as the story is the story whichever decade you’re in. We loved the character Alice (who Florence thought was very pretty and is played very sweetly by Ebony Feare) falling down the rabbit hole and thought that the use of props was very effective then and throughout the whole performance.

This was a very different piece of theatre for Florence and very alternative indeed. I’m not sure Florence has come across physchedelic things before and she wouldn’t understand if I explained this is how I saw ‘Alice’ but saw it in physchedelia I certainy did. Ambient colours and touches were not all down to the caterpillar although he certainly added to it. This show is as weird and wonderful as you would want a performance of ‘Alice’ to be and we thought it was pretty fab for it!

How do you make it appear as if someone is shrinking or growing on stage as of course a famous part of the script dictates? Well… You’ll have to see it to understand but it’s done, as is the rest of the show, very creatively indeed. I’d say there are many clever touches to the play and coupled with vibrant performances it’s a must see for this season! I can understand why it’s aimed at older ones but Florence enjoyed it very much and although Jimmy didn’t last for the whole performance (he wasn’t feeling too well), he did find lots to look at and enjoy for the most part.

Director Rosamund Hutt has done ‘Alice’ proud and we enjoyed this all senses spectacular very much! We loved the Cheshire cat (superbly portrayed with fans), the Duchess played by Nia Davis (although I’m not sure she’s a born singer) and Dale Supervilles performances best of all and came away talking about Dale’s white rabbit and his cute giggle and wiggle! We couldn’t possibly leave this review without noting the performance of Sam Worboys though! Just watch him all the time on stage as he is always doing something you will find entertaining even if not noticeably apparent!

A bit of our own creativity being let loose during the interval!

We always love playing at Polka and this time with it being so cold we stayed inside and had fun in the foyer! Florence noticed a NEW rocking horse and found a mirror to make her smaller just like in ‘Alice’!

We saw a performance which invites the whole family as there are selected dates with family friendly showings. The show is aimed at the over 6’s but you can check the schedule for a performance which will best suit here. Tickets are £16 or £11 for concessions and can be booked on the website www.polkatheatre.com.

I have not been paid to write this post but I was provided complimentary tickets for the purpose of an honest review.

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