Lindsey Noel Whiting as Alice in the Lookingglass production of “Lookingglass Alice.” Thanks to our sponsors:And that does not even come close to capturing the absolutely brilliant production of “Lookingglass Alice,” the namesake show of Lookingglass Theatre that has had a half-dozen reincarnations since it first arrived on a Chicago stage in 1988. It has now been thrillingly revised and remounted on the company’s uniquely rigged stage in the Water Tower Water Works Building on Michigan Avenue.
Still generating well-deserved applause is a surprise opening scene that I will not divulge aside from reminding you that this story is all about Alice moving to the other side of a mirror and becoming enmeshed in a wildly surreal, alternately bizarre and brainy dream that loosely plays off the rules of a chess game and notions of time and space. The story leads the 7-year-old Alice on a long, mentally and physically upending experience that somehow results in her being dubbed a queen.
The sheer energy, skill and daring required of the cast is stunning. And while every performance is ideal, and ideally quirky, it is Whiting’s astonishing portrayal of Alice that continually bedazzles. A petite figure of gargantuan strength and nerves of steel, Whiting’s airborne routines on a circular trapeze are stunning, and put the audience in a state of total emotional suspension.
On every level this is a highly designed show, with Daniel Ostling’s set, Christine A. Binder’s lighting, Lee Brasuell’s rock solid rigging design, Mara Blumenfeld’s fantastical costumes and the music of Andre Pluess and Ben Collins-Sussman adding to its magic. Also deserving a cheer is the show’s team of stagehands that sees to it that every member of the cast makes a safe entrance and exit from the stage.