Alice of Hearts based on the play by Bruce Hoogendoorn
The Wonderland faces difficult times. Large scale cutbacks and austerity measures have turned this once amazing place into a money counting machinery.
Even the Queen of Hearts cannot afford her crocket game the way she would love to play it. Under the careful watch of Geoffrey, a cost cutting CEO, many central characters have been made redundant or forced to live a cost efficient life. The Mad Hatter is aiming at the career of a future manager, the Duchess is now struggling with inventing efficient marketing strategies and the White Rabbit is overwhelmed by work pressure. When Alice arrives back to this factory-smoke-filled and money driven place she hopes to free the Wonderland folk from the dictatorship of cost and benefit. She hopes to revive their joy and offer them back the access to the magic garden. Even at the cost of taking hostages… The only problem Alice does not foresee in her grand plan of liberation is that not everyone wants to be free.
Despite its light theme the play by Hoogendoorn (Alice of Hearts) is not aimed at young audiences. It is a tragicomedy with a sense of humour. Under the lightness of its Wonderland motive it deals with difficult questions of fairness, paradoxes of capitalism and the value of human life in an era dominated by the calculus of profit.
Duration: 120 minutes with an intermission.
Cultural Centre Caisa, Caisan Sali, Mikonkatu 17 C/ Vuorikatu 14, Helsinki
24th, 27th May and 3rd June 2013 at 6 pm. FREE ENTRY!