Venue: Ubunye Theatre, Emperors Palace
Who: The People's Theatre
Dates: Until July 15
Rating: ***
The People's Theatre once again bring a children's classic to life on stage - this time Lewis Carroll's magical Alice in Wonderland.
It's a bit of a difficult one to really adapt from the book, because of its fantastical nature, but it mostly succeeds - except, as my 10-year-old son pointed out, it doesn't really illustrate how she came to be in Wonderland, the whole shrinking thing.
But it's a romp, nonetheless, with great costumes and sets enhancing the professional acting. In Alice's dream world she meets up with the White Rabbit - "I'm late, I'm late!" (played with great quirkiness by Vukile Mavuya) - enjoys an unusual tea party with the March Hare and the Mad Hatter, plays croquet with the dictatorial Queen of Hearts (Matthew Lotter, who was great as the grande dame) and bumps into other memorable characters, like Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, the caterpillar, Mother Oyster and the Cheshire Cat.
It's not as interactive as some of the others, but a couple of the kids do get to play the card soldiers and the baby oysters, much to their delight. And the singing and dancing is all there, often using recognisable modern-day tunes, which the kids enjoy.
I don't think the very little will really get the story (as opposed to popular fairytales that they normally do), but it's still a lot of fun, both visually and aurally.
So, if you're at Emperors, bring your kids along to the Ubunye for some great entertainment - there are now three shows over weekends, because of their growing popularity, and on Wednesday to Friday shows are on at 10am and 3pm. Book at the Emperors Box Office on 011-928-1297 or call Computicket on 083-915-8000.