Quintessence Presents ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, Beginning Tonight

Quintessence Theatre Group continues its fifth season of progressive classic theatre with Simon Reade's stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll's ALICE's ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. Last Christmas Quintessence took you on an adventure across the English countryside and into the wild wood. This year we will venture down the rabbit hole. A theatrical event for the whole family, Quintessence's special brand of imagination theatre will take you on a whirlwind adventure with Alice and allow you to escape the holiday madness in Wonderland. Bringing together the best professional actors and designers from Philadelphia and across the country, Artistic Director Alexander Burns leads this collective of artists on a mission to ignite the classics through visceral, actor-focused and text-driven productions. ALICE's ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND will begin previews tonight, December 10 at 7pm and open on Saturday, December 13 at 7pm. All performances are at the Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Ave in Mt Airy, Philadelphia, 19119. To purchase tickets visit QuintessenceTheatre.org or call 215.987.4450.

A little girl named Alice is bored with being treated like a child and is ready to face the world on her own. When Alice's curiosity leads her down a rabbit hole she falls into a topsy-turvy Wonderland. Can Alice figure out the logic of this new world and its inhabitants, and find her way home? Actress Emiley Kiser will bring to life Carroll's famous heroine Alice, supported by Quintessence regulars Sean Close as the White Rabbit, Sean Bradley as the Mock Turtle, Khris Davis as the Caterpillar, Johnny Smith as the Mad Hatter and Andrew Betz as the Dormouse. The ensemble will also welcome Anita Holland as the Duchess, and Faith Fossett as the Queen of Hearts. Complete with original songs by Philadelphia musician David Cope, Quintessence is excited to continue building a new tradition of literary family classics for the holiday season.

QUINTESSENCE: A CLASSIC REPERTORY ENSEMBLE FOR PHILADELPHIA

Quintessence Theatre Group is a professional classic theatre, dedicated to the performance and adaptation of epic works of classic literature and drama for the contemporary stage, which ignites the mind, body and soul through the power of the actor, design and spoken word.

Now in its fifth season, Quintessence continues to work towards the establishment of an acting ensemble and a rotating repertory at the historic Sedgwick Theater in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. As Quintessence Theatre's home, the Sedgwick Theater, a 1928 art deco movie palace designed by William Lee, will regain its place as a jewel in Philadelphia's cultural landscape.

In Season V, Quintessence will expand its offering to five productions of epic classics for the contemporary stage. Quintessence began the season with a return to all-male Shakespeare, presenting a thirteen actor AS YOU LIKE IT and RICHARD II in rotating repertory. The season will also include Steven Berkoff's adaptation of Kafka's THE METAMORPHOSIS, directed by Applied Mechanic's artistic director Rebecca Wright, and a new adaptation of Dumas' THE THREE MUSKETEERS with swordfights choreographed by fight master Ian Rose.

ALICE's ADVENTURE IN WONDERLAND plays December 10 - January 4. A special PAY WHAT YOU CAN preview will be presented on Wednesday, December 10 at 7:00pm. Post-show talkbacks with the cast and director will take place on Thursday, December 18 and Sunday, December 21. Please check the performance schedule below or visit QuintessenceTheatre.org for exact performance times and dates.

Tickets are $34 - $27 general admission, $25 for seniors (65 and over), $15 for youth (21 and under). Group discounts and weekday student matinees are available. Season V Subscription packages are still available. To purchase tickets or subscriptions visit QuintessenceTheatre.org or call 1.215.987.4450. For ticket information please email BoxOffice@QuintessenceTheatre.org.

ANDREW BETZ (The Dormouse) Quintessence: As You Like It, Richard II, Henry V. National Tour: Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Regional: Hair (White Plains PAC), The Boyfriend (Princeton Festival), The Secret Garden (Utah Shakespeare Festival). Training: Otterbein College, Musical Theatre (BFA)

SEAN BRADLEY (The King, Mock Turtle) Quintessence: The Wind in the Willows, Hamlet, She Stoops to Conquer, Antigone, The Merchant of Venice, The Venetian Twins. Philadelphia: The Glass Menagerie (Act II Playhouse), Five Kings (Revolution Shakespeare); Three Sisters (u/s) (Arden Theatre Co.); A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Winter's Tale (Delaware Shakespeare Festival); Lord of the Flies (Curio Theatre Co.); Hamlet, As You Like It (Philadelphia Shakespeare Theater). Upcoming Sean can be seen in Arden Theatre Company's production Macbeth. Training: BFA from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. MA from University College Dublin, Ireland.

SEAN CLOSE (The White Rabbit) Quintessence: As You Like It, Richard II, The Wind in the Willows, The Misanthrope, Arms and the Man, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, The Venetian Twins, The Importance of Being Earnest, Henry V. Philadelphia: Arden Theatre Company, Delaware Shakespeare Festival, Montgomery Theater, Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company, Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, Iron Age Theatre, South Camden Theatre Company, B. Someday Productions, Bootless Stageworks. Training: William and Mary University.

KHRIS DAVIS* (The Caterpillar, The March Hare) Quintessence: Henry V, The Venetian Twins, The Merchant of Venice, Antigone, Othello, Arms and the Man, The Misanthrope, The Wind In The Willows. Regional: Bull Durham (Alliance Theatre), Love in Afghanistan (Arena Stage). Philadelphia: Ruined (PTC); Go Green (WST Outreach tour); Black Nativity (Theatre Double); Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters (Camden Rep); First Breeze of Summer (Adrienne Theatre); u/s Blue Door, Superior Donuts (The Arden Theatre).

FAITH FOSSETT (The Queen of Hearts, Music Director) Regional: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo&Juliet (NE Shakespeare), The Sound of Music (Virginia Musical Theatre), A Christmas Carol (VSC). New York: Portrait of an Artist (Phillstock). Film: The Poet. Training: Nebraska Wesleyan University BFA.

ANITA HOLLAND (The Duchess) Regional: The Reckoning (The Gym at Judson), LAMVF (The Brick), The Comedy of Errors (Sailors and Soldiers Monument), The School for Scandal and Servant of Two Masters (Jimmy's 43), Dealing with Ophelia (Governors Island). Philadelphia: We Are Bandits (Applied Mechanics). Film: The Maldonado Miracle and Smitty. Training: BFA in Actor Training at The University of Utah.

EMILEY KISER* (Alice) Regional: Our Town (Palm Beach Dramaworks), Henry VIII (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival), Much Ado About Nothing (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival). Philadelphia: Pride and Prejudice (People's Light and Theatre). Training: Desales University (BA).

JOHNNY SMITH (The Mad Hatter) Quintessence: Henry V, The Wind In The Willows. Philadelphia: Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Titus Andronicus, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Henry IV part I (Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre); The Last Plot in Revenge (Brat Productions); Peer Gynt, The Diary of Anne Frank (Ego Po); The Meep Project (Simpatico); Amadeus, A Christmas Carol (Walnut Street Theatre); A Fractured Christmas Carol, Good Puppet of Szechwan, Fresh Fish 2.0, High Dramma Sketch Comedy (B. Someday Productions); My Last Trip to Nowhere-Land (SoLow Festival). Training: Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

*Actors appear courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.

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