ESTONIA

The classical story of Alice in Wonderland brought to the stage with a restyling. “Inside.Alice” by the Flying Cow Theatre from Estonia tells the story of a young girl who dreams herself into a wonderland.

The Estonian Flying Cow Theatre found interesting twists to the classic. The play is bilingual in its Russian-English format that makes the story even deeper within the characters' encounters. First of all – the group’s ensemble worked together so well that from the audience it really felt like that the actors functioned as a single organism. Inside.Alice is a great example of theatre happening in the interaction between the audience and the actors. The audience felt alive, reacting instantly to the twists and turns of the play.

Second of all – the appearance of the play was on its own level. The stage design took the audience’s focus immediately as they walked in. The costumes and props gave an amazing feeling of actually visiting the Wonderland together with Alice. If one jaw‑dropping moment had to be mentioned, it would definitely be Alice’s fall down the rabbit hole. It felt as if the hole was presented as its own character, with feelings and desires – cleverly portrayed!

Overall, the play was built in a way that the audience members were on the edge of their seats, and the constantly deepening story was getting just “curiouser and curiouser” – just as the characters repeated from time to time in different scenes of the play.

Mykola and Roope