WE'RE all mad here! So says Rowntree Players director Gemma McDonald, quoting her favourite line from Alice In Wonderland.

“No, really. With the Mad Hatter and March Hare at the tea party, the frequently disappearing Cheshire Cat, more royals than at the Queen’s birthday and a heroine who doesn’t stay the same size for more than a few minutes, it really is the strangest production I’ve ever wrangled into shape.”

Rowntree Players are well known for their elaborate annual pantomime and now they want to bring that same scale, colour and chaos into their summer season. Consequently, the Players have chosen one of the nation’s most loved texts, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, in a stage adaptation by Brainerd Duffield that combines poems, vignettes and large set-pieces in myriad vibrant and often surreal locations.

Employing a cast of all ages, including familiar Players faces, Gemma promises the audience a wild journey with even wilder characters.

York Press:

Marie-Louise Surgenor as the Queen of Hearts

“Blessed with so many characters, we've been able to give fresh opportunities to many of our younger members, with many of them donning big frocks and taking the lead on a stage for the first time," she says. "It’s been great to welcome so many new faces to the Rowntree Players company. We may be the oldest amateur outfit in town, but it's really energising to see the next generation kick in.”

Gemma is backed by the highly committed stage and costume team, whose members last worked with her on Patrick Barlow's The 39 Steps last year.

"This time they're turning their hands to the extra-ordinary with magic rabbit holes, giant toadstools with accompanying caterpillar, living playing cards, talking animals and, of course, the most infamous of all tea parties," says Gemma. "It really is a play for the whole family. Our brilliant cast and story will take even the youngest imagination into the most fantastical world of surreal and exciting adventures.”

Heading Gemma’s cast will be Daisy Ella as Alice, Marie-Louise Surgenor as the Queen of Hearts and Graham Smith, shedding his pantomime dame’s garb to leap into the role of the King of Hearts. Finn Ella will play the Mad Hatter, Hannah Temple, the Caterpillar, Dana-Claire Headley, the White Queen, and Cari Hughes, the March Hare.

“What dates is it?” the Mad Hatter famously asks. The answer is May 26 to 28 at 7.30pm nightly plus a 2pm Saturday matinee. Tickets are available at rowntreeplayers.co.uk or on 07927 026071.