Review: RUN, ALICE, RUN at Taganka Theatre - Alice Ran to Moscow And It Is Awesome

The musical based on Vladimir Vysotsky's lyrics has been recently nominated for the Russian national theatre award Golden Mask in 5 categories: Best Production, Best Director, Best Designer, Best Costume Designer, Best Light Designer in Operetta/Musical. Vysotsky's work was released on vinyl in 1976 in the USSR. Run, Alice, Run premiered earlier this year to celebrate the 80th birthday of a great Russian songwriter and singer.

The production is the interpretation of a classic fairy tale by Lewis Carroll. This is neither like Disney's animation nor like Tim Burton's film about adventures of a little girl in the Wonderland. Maxim Didenko directed a very dark, psychedelic, dystopian story about modern Moscow and a satire on rulers, laws and people who obey them no matter what. The obedience starts even in the audience when at the beginning of the stage play it is asked by March Hare to rise because the court is now in session.

Taganka's actors are wonderful, as always. You believe them, you are fascinated by their acting and singing. They manage really well with such a difficult material. A couple of characters is presented by actors wearing life-size puppet costumes of rabbits and cats. Alice is not one character but three at the same time - played by actresses of different ages. There is also one anti-Alice - Alice of the Night, all in black. She is the main antagonist, she transforms the Queen of Hearts into the Queen of Worms and makes her the Queen of Russia. Alice returns from the Wonderland not to Great Britain but to Moscow where the Queen banned everything that's possible and Alice's friends from Wonderland became her servants.

The lightning, costume and set design are amazing. The rainy day in the musical reaches to the audience with the help of Ivan Vinogradov, lighting director. As the light imitates rain, the costumes are also complex, especially for fantastic creatures. Alice's parents are, for example, clouds who are wearing cloud-like hats. The same goes with the set design: it is quite simple, yet so meaningful and stylish.

Despite the fact that Run, Alice, Run can sometimes be a little bit overwhelming because of the growing darkness, melancholic music and the on-stage absurd, the play has some humor which helps the audience to relax and breath out. All in all, this is a great experience - to attend a famous story which suddenly takes an unexpected turn and tells about something close and relatable to spectators and which takes place in their homeland.

Photo Credit: Ira Polyarnaya

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