A SENSORY WONDERLAND AWAITS THE YOUNGEST THEATREGOERS AND THEIR FAMILIES AT THE NEW VIC THIS CHRISTMAS IN TALE TRAIL TO WONDERLAND

A SENSORY WONDERLAND AWAITS THE YOUNGEST THEATREGOERS AND THEIR FAMILIES AT THE NEW VIC THIS CHRISTMAS IN TALE TRAIL TO WONDERLAND

9th November 2022

The New Vic’s entrancing Tale Trail returns this Christmas for 3-5 year olds and their families, as the theatre invites young audience members to embark on a stimulating and playful adventure into the world of a classic story. This year, Tale Trail to Wonderland will take children on a journey with the White Rabbit to find Alice in a magical land like no other…

The world is full of amazement when you are between the ages of 3 and 5, and, with an unmissable invitation to an un-birthday tea party like no other, that world is about to become a very curious place!

Filled with vibrant colour, texture and even bubbles, Tale Trail to Wonderland focuses on sensory experience and has been designed specifically with accessibility in mind and to meet the needs of every child. Children and their families will actively take the lead in helping the White Rabbit on a fun-filled journey to discover the location of Alice’s un-birthday tea party by feeling their way through the rabbit hole, along the riverbank and into the Red Queen’s garden. Audience members are encouraged to explore scenes from the much-loved story through touch, smell and vision before eventually finding themselves face-to-face with the Mad Hatter, just in time for tea!

Immersing pre-schoolers into a dreamlike yet safe world of wonder, this interactive show tells the story of Alice’s infamous escapades from a new perspective. Bringing the characters and story to life Erica Flint (Tale Trail to Coppelia) and Rhiannon Kearns (DNA by Quirky Bird Theatre; A View from the Bridge at Octagon Theatre, Bolton) will also use accessible sign language throughout the show as a way to enhance the experience for all the audience along the way.

Director of Tale Trail to Wonderland and New Vic’s Education Theatre Practitioner Becky Salt, said: “It has been incredibly enjoyable to develop the story of Alice in Wonderland for Tale Trail this year. Our main focus has been to create a performance that is as accessible and as inclusive as possible because we believe it is important that audiences of all abilities and backgrounds have the opportunity to experience the magic of interactive live theatre. Alice in Wonderland already contains so many wonderful features that the families can see, touch, smell and taste… To literally bring this famous adventure to life for our audiences is very exciting and I am sure it will really spark the imaginations of our youngest audience members!”  

New Vic’s Head of Education, Jill Rezzano, said: “Tale Trail is a brilliant opportunity for young children to discover theatre for the first time. We hope that by actively exploring the realms of possibility – or impossibility – with our actors, children will be both entertained and inspired by what they experience on this journey through Wonderland.”

Designed to make children believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast, the show is guaranteed to expand the mind and have a positive and long-lasting effect in encouraging participants’ creative-thinking and imaginations.

Don’t be late for this very important date!

Tale Trail to Wonderland will be performed in the Studio at the New Vic Theatre from Saturday 10 to Saturday 31 December 2022. Tickets are on sale now priced at £9.50 and are available to buy from the Box Office, by calling 01782 717962 or online at newvictheatre.org.uk.  

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Previous Alice Tale Trail by Andrew Billington

Article by Alex Mason

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