Alice follows a White Rabbit into a strange world where ordinary rules have apparently been mislaid. Her journey through Wonderland brings her face to face with familiar characters, impossible conversations and situations that become less sensible the more everybody insists they make perfect sense. For this production, however, All Saints Elton Theatre Youth did more than simply retell Lewis Carroll’s story. Alice was an adapted and expanded version created for the group, with new scenes written to give its growing company of young performers opportunities to develop characters and bring their own ideas to Wonderland.
All Saints Elton Theatre Youth presented Alice at The Met in Bury on Saturday 13th December 2025 at 5:30pm. The production was written and directed by Charlotte Crowley.
The production marked an important new step for the Youth Theatre.
After developing performance skills through previous shows, the group moved into original scriptwriting for the first time. Lewis Carroll’s much-loved characters provided the starting point, but the production was shaped around the young company itself.
New material expanded the story and created opportunities across a cast which had grown dramatically since the Youth Theatre first opened in September 2022.
That growth had been remarkable. What began with just six young performers had developed into a company of dozens, with Alice following previous youth productions and workshops.
Wonderland is an ideal place for young performers because almost anything can happen there. Characters can be huge, peculiar, bossy, nervous, ridiculous or all five before tea.
More importantly, Alice allowed the group to explore storytelling as creators as well as performers.
The result was a Christmas production rooted in a story audiences already knew, but made specifically for All Saints Elton Theatre Youth and the young people who brought its version of Wonderland to life.