Mercury Theatre Announces Full Cast For Summer Production of ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Mercury Theatre today announces the full cast for their summer production of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, reimagined by Olivier award-winning playwright Mike Kenny with music by Ivan Stott. Emma Earle directs Ruby Ablett as Alice, Miiya Alexandra (Dora/Doormouse), Hannah Azuonye (Carol-Louise/ Caterpillar/Cheshire Cat), Rosalind Ford (Mum/Duchess), Natasha Karp (Queen of Hearts/Ms Head), Tom Moores (White Rabbit/Mr Buck), Jamie Noar (Tweedledee/King of Hearts), Mike Slader (Harry/Mad Hatter) and Loris Scarpa (Tweedledum/March Hare). The production opens on Wednesday 3 August at the Mercury Theatre and runs until Sunday 14 August, with previews from Friday 29 July.

Creative Director Ryan McBryde said today: "We can't wait to jump down the rabbit hole into the fantastical world of Wonderland this summer. Director Emma Earle has a fantastic track record with her award-winning, female-led theatre company Pins and Needles, who are best known for their bold and imaginative adaptations of children's books including Raymond Briggs' classics Father Christmas and The Bear. We're delighted to welcome a multi-talented cast of actor-musicians including the wonderful Mike Slader and Rosalind Ford last seen in the Mercury's The Comedy of Errors."

Alice is under a lot of pressure. She's anxiously about to sit an exam, when she accidentally falls down a rabbit hole and plunges into the magical world of Wonderland. There, she encounters some of the strangest and most peculiar creatures she's ever met, including a very bossy White Rabbit, a Cheshire Cat who can't stop grinning and a Mad Hatter who's, well, mad!

Can Alice defeat the formidable Queen of Hearts and get back home in time to finish her test?

Ruby Ablett plays Alice. Her recent theatre credits include The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Duke of York's Theatre), The Wind in the Willows (Derby Theatre), 8: A Steampunk Opera (The Other Palace), Double Act (Polka Theatre), Why is the Sky Blue? (Southwark Playhouse), White Trash (VAULT Festival), A Christmas Carol, The Threepenny Opera (Bolton Octagon), The True History of Julia Pastrana (Hope Mill Theatre), Brass (Hackney Empire), Sweet Charity (Leicester Curve) and VARIETE (Riverside Studios).

Miiya Alexandra plays Dora/Doormouse. Her theatre credits include Amelie the Musical (Criterion Theatre), The King and I (London Palladium/UK tour/international tour), Aladdin (Queen's Theatre Hornchurch), Jack and the Beanstalk (Watford Palace Theatre) and Metropolis (The Ye Olde Rose and Crown - Offie Award nomination for Best Female in a Musical).

Hannah Azuonye plays Carol-Louise/Caterpillar/Cheshire Cat. Her recent theatre credits include Macbeth (Shakespeare's Globe), The Ruff Tuff Cream Puff Estate Agency (Cardboard Citizens/Belgrade Theatre), Measure for Measure; Though She Be But Little, She Is Fierce; The Taming of The Shrew (RSC), Girl from the North Country (The Old Vic) and Everything That Rises Must Dance (Complicité).

Rosalind Ford returns to the theatre to play Mum/Duchess - she previously appeared in The Comedy of Errors. Her theatre credits include Hamlet (Guildford Shakespeare Company), Gin Craze! (Royal and Derngate Northampton), Once, Metta's Little Mermaid (UK tours), David Copperfield, And The World Goes Around, Daddy Long Legs, Just So (Barn Theatre), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Mother Courage and Her Children, (Southwark Playhouse), Oranges and Elephants (Hoxton Hall) and These Trees Are Made of Blood (Arcola Theatre).

Natasha Karp plays Queen of Hearts/Ms Head. Her theatre credits include Rags (Park Theatre), The Borrowers (Watermill Theatre), The Kite Runner (Wyndham's Theatre), Into the Woods (Menier Chocolate Factory), Alice in Wonderland (Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage), American Idiot (Arts Theatre), The Theory of Relativity (Drayton Arms), The Grand Tour (Finborough Theatre), The Road to Qatar (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), 3 Composers, 3 Countries (Relative Motion), The Canterbury Tales (Worcester Rep Company) and Market Boy (Union Theatre).

Tom Moores plays White Rabbit/Mr Buck. His theatre credits include Horrible Histories: Groovy Greeks & Incredible Invaders (UK tour), Major Tom, Dinner at the Twits, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Alice's Adventures Underground (The Vaults), as well as immersive shows for Secret Cinema, LET and Rogue Productions. He writes for television with his wife Holly Morgan, has written and performed his one-man show, Major Tom, regularly hosts the Real Housewives of Broadway cabaret nights and is one half of the comedy double act Holly Morgan.

Jamie Noar plays Tweedledee/King of Hearts and is the Musical Director. As an actor, his credits include Calamity Jane (The Watermill Theatre/UK tour), Othello (Stafford Gatehouse), White Christmas (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), Made in Dagenham (The New Wolsey Theatre/Queen's Theatre Hornchurch) and It's a Wonderful Life (Pitlochry Festival Theatre). Recent musical direction credits include Robin Hood (Liverpool Everyman - winner of Best Musical Director at UK Pantomime Awards), Say Yes to Tess (Leeds Playhouse - Offie nomination for Best Musical Director), Europeana (RSC), A Little Princess (Royal Festival Hall), Liminal (King's Head Theatre), The Sandman (Southwark Playhouse), Jason and the Argonauts (London School of Musical Theatre), Bugsy Malone (artsdepot) and Working (Upstairs at The Gatehouse).

Loris Scarpa plays Tweedledum/March Hare, making his professional stage debut. His screen credits include Doctors, SAS: Rogue Heroes, Company of Heroes and The Gray Trilogy.

Mike Slader returns to Mercury Theatre to play Harry/Mad Hatter Hatter - he previously appeared in The Comedy of Errors. His other theatre credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth (Wilton's Music Hall), Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet (The Watermill Theatre), Red Riding Hood, Dick Whittington (Leeds City Varieties Music Hall), Robin Hood, Aladdin (Stafford Gatehouse), Dreamboats and Petticoats, Dreamboats and Miniskirts (UK tour), Frankenstein (Salisbury Playhouse), Delirium Show 6 (St James Theatre), Tiny Tempest (Brighton Dome), Close (Cockpit Theatre), Ovid's Metamorphoses (Pleasance Dome), Grimethorpe Race (Arcola Theatre), The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe and Dr Faustus (Chichester Festival Theatre). His film credits include Eight and Cruizer.

Emma Earle directs. Her directing credits include Adventures in Wonderland (The Vaults), Holly and Ivan's Christmas Adventure, Father Christmas (Lyric Hammersmith), Glengarry Glen Ross, The Shape of Things (Ustinov Studio), Treasure Island, The Grapes of Wrath, Riot, Beasts and Beauties (the egg), The Taming of the Shrew, Eddie King's Unforgettable Tour of the Forgotten, Gizmo Love, The Elves and the Shoemakers (Tobacco Factory), Select A Quest and Much Ado About Nothing (Bristol Old Vic).

Adapted by Mike Kenny, one of England's leading playwrights, specialising in young people's theatre. His principal adaptions for the stage include The Railway Children, The Odyssey, Solace of the Road, Gulliver's Travels and Flat Stanley; while his original plays include Three Wise Monkeys, Electric Darkness and Calderland - A People's Opera.

Performances run 29 July - 14 August 2022.

Box Office: www.mercurytheatre.co.uk / 01206 573948

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