Full Casting Announced For Rose Theatre Kingston's Christmas Show ALICE IN WINTERLAND

Rose Theatre Kingston has just announced full casting for its Christmas show, Alice in Winterland, based on Lewis Carroll's timeless books Alice Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Following the success of last year's enchanting adaptation of The Wind in the Willows and 2015's festive hit A Christmas Carol, Ciaran McConville returns to direct a cast of local young actors from the Rose Youth Theatre led by a team of professional actors including Daniel Goode (Father/Mad Hatter), Amanda Gordon (Cheshire Cat/Mother), Jonathan Andrew Hume (Blue Caterpillar/Knave), Tony Timberlake (White Knight/Isumbras) and Susannah Van Den Berg (Aunt Margaret/Queen of Hearts). The production opens on the Friday 15 December, with previews from Thursday 7 December, and runs until Sunday 7 January.

Alice has been brought up to believe in wonder, but life takes an unexpected turn when her wounded father returns home from the Great War. Confronted with losing her home, she is visited by a White Rabbit who propels her on a quest to save Winterland, a world of ice and imagination, of mad hatters and cruel queens, curious cats and strong-minded dodos, a frozen world inhabited by the mysterious Bandersnatch and the terrible Jabberwock, where only the most intrepid of girls can make the impossible seem possible...

Featuring magically evocative music and strikingly imaginative designs, puppetry and projections, this spectacular new stage production of Lewis Carroll's timeless books takes the audience into a fairy-tale land of wonder and adventure. The production features professional actors alongside members of the Rose Youth Theatre.

Ciaran McConville is Director of Learning & Participation at Rose Theatre Kingston. His credits for the company include The Wind in the Willows, A Christmas Carol and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Other credits include The Enchanted Story Trail (RHS Garden Wisley). His writing credits include Stones, In the Way of Peace, Our Town: A Kingston Story, Pitching In, Snowbound, My Father the Angel, These Four Walls, Shostakovich The Last Symphony, MiracleBoy, The Curse of Death's Glen, Crooked Little House, Touched by Fire, Immortal, The Man Who Dreamed and The Settling Dust. His adaptations include Heart of Darkness, The Jungle Book, Treasure Island, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Trial, Arabian Nights, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Oliver Twist, Frankenstein and the hit show Horrible Histories Ruthless Romans, which toured internationally. He is also a founding director of Debut Theatre Company.

Eamonn O'Dwyer returns to Rose Theatre Kingston as Composer, Lyricist & Musical Director. Credits for the company include The Wind in the Willows, A Christmas Carol, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Our Town: A Kingston Story. Other credits include Peter Pan (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Great Bull Stands, A Flea in her Ear (Tabard Theatre), Five Children & It (Tristan Bates Theatre), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Greenwich Theatre), The House of Mirrors and Hearts (Arcola Theatre), The Immortal Hour, Merrie England (Finborough Theatre) and The Massacre (Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds). He is also an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.

Daniel Goode plays Father/Mad Hatter. Theatre credits include The Second Mrs Tanqueray, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, A Christmas Carol, Treasure Island (Rose Theatre Kingston), The Misanthrope (Liverpool Playhouse), Chicago (Cambridge Theatre), The Taming of the Shrew, The Phoenician Women, Julius Caesar (RSC), Noel & Gertie (Salisbury Playhouse), Hamlet (UK tour, New Ambassadors Theatre & international tour) and Alice in Wonderland (Guildford Shakespeare Company). Film credits include The Redistributors, Another Life, Shadowlands, Queen's Evidence, Gateway to Heaven and Catflap.

Amanda Gordon plays Cheshire Cat/Mother. Theatre credits include The Borrowers (Polka Theatre), Grimm Tales (The Bargehouse), Will Harvey's War (Cheltenham Everyman Theatre), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Minerva Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, Duchess Theatre), The Wind in the Willows (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Jemima Puddleduck and Friends (Unicorn Theatre), Robinson Crusoe (Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmonds), F****** Charlie (Tristan Bates Theatre) and Bombay Dreams (Apollo Victoria).

Jonathan Andrew Hume plays Blue Caterpillar/Knave. Theatre credits include The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre, Sands Theatre, Singapore), Jesus Christ Superstar (Wyllyotts Theatre, UK tour). Television credits include Down To Earth, Anything's Possible and Hope & Glory. He will also be appearing in the forthcoming film Mary Poppins Returns.

Tony Timberlake plays White Knight/Isumbras. Theatre credits include Chicago (Garrick Theatre), Hairspray (Shaftesbury Theatre), Spamalot (Palace Theatre), The Full Monty (Prince Of Wales Theatre), Singin' In The Rain (National Theatre), Cats (New London Theatre), Les Miserables (Palace Theatre), Into The Woods (Donmar Warehouse), Dealers Choice (Union Theatre), Jesus Christ Superstar (UK tour) and Hair (international tour). Film credits include Four More Hours, Over The Edge and London Road.

Susannah Van Den Berg plays Aunt Margaret/Queen of Hearts. Theatre credits include Sister Act (UK and international tour), Diana of Dobson's (New Vic Theatre), I Love Paris (Orange Tree Theatre), Can't Buy Me Love, A Man of No Importance (Salisbury Playhouse), Business as Usual (Everyman Theatre), Sweeney Todd (English National Opera), The Sound of Music (Curve) and Man of La Mancha (Royal Lyceum Theatre).

The production will once again be supported by Wahid Samady and CNM Estates, who have sponsored the Rose Christmas show since 2014. CNM Estates develops properties across the London Borough of Kingston. By providing dynamic public realm and leisure facilities, its beautifully designed state-of-the-art apartments, offices and retail units greatly enhance the local environment - not only for those who live and work there - but also the Kingston community as a whole.

ABOUT ROSE THEATRE KINGSTON

Founded by Sir Peter Hall, and modelled on the original Elizabethan Rose Theatre on London's Bankside, Rose Theatre Kingston is the largest producing theatre in South West London.

Since opening in 2008, the Rose has collaborated with a range of directors, playwrights and producing partners to create vibrant, engaging and inspiring productions. Recent works include the first stage adaptation and world premiere of Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend directed by Melly Still, Zach Helm's Good Canary directed by John Malkovich, Shakespeare's trilogy The Wars of the Roses directed by Trevor Nunn, David Hare's The Absence of War directed by Jeremy Herrin and Jacqueline Wilson's Hetty Feather (West End transfer and Olivier Award nominee) directed by Sally Cookson.

With over 150,000 visitors a year, the Rose enjoys artistic and critical acclaim from its own productions and co-productions as well as from hosting the work of renowned theatre companies including Royal Shakespeare Company, English Touring Theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, Propeller and Northern Broadsides. With an auditorium that lends itself to both intimate and epic scale productions, the Rose has established itself as one of the most exciting theatres in the UK.

For more information visit www.rosetheatrekingston.org.

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