Fringe review: A MAD, MAD WONDERLAND!, Greenside at George Street

If you book to see A Mad, Mad Wonderland!, read the blurb carefully in advance so you have a clear idea what the creator and performer Jason Woods is trying to convey. We didn’t and so it took some time to appreciate his clever twist to the famous Lewis Carroll novels.

We all know the characters created in this famous fantasy land and Woods conveys them all in a succession of different voices with strong distinctive timbre and bags of modern idioms. It all feels like a slightly bonkers reimagining of the story until halfway through when we realised that each was portrayed in the style of a famous movie star. Once you make that connection, the skill of the presentation and the fun of his Wonderland becomes clearer.

The leaflet given to us on the way in gave no hint but if it said which actor is playing each character, we would have got much more out of it in a mad cap bingo wonderland.

In retrospect, we might have recognised Jack Nicholson, Jim Carrey, Jeff Goldblum, Alan Rickman as Snape, and Roger Rabbit earlier, and that would have made the wit stand out. We heard the ‘Avada Kedavra’ curse but did not connect it to the voice until later. We still don't know who the lisping Queen of Hearts was. Was the narrator Orson Welles?

Jason Woods does allow time for a Q&A afterwards but by then, the moment has passed. This is a clever piece of theatre but as our 31st and last Fringe show of this year, perhaps this reviewer’s critical faculties were not firing on all cylinders!

As with all the shows, we left admiring the commitment, creativity and efforts of the performance and it is why the Fringe is such a special place to visit. It is indeed a mad, mad wonderland for the month of August every year.

*** Three stars

Reviewed by: Nick Wayne

A Mad, Mad Wonderland! plays at Edinburgh Festival Fringe until 23 August, with further info here.