Alice’s adventures in Wonderland have taken on many forms over the decades, from the original writing of Lewis Carroll to both animated and live-action adaptations. On January 9 and 16, the Davie Players threw their hat in the ring (perhaps one owned by a Mad Hatter?) and staged their own adaptation of the iconic story for the community.
Originally intended to be performed on January 9 and 10, the second night’s showing had to be rescheduled due to winter weather concerns. This production took the place of the Senior Shorts, the original plan for the end of the semester that would have featured multiple one-act plays directed by different seniors in that class. Instead, “Alice in Wonderland” was helmed by junior Cameron Gordon, who earlier this semester won an award at the NCTC Regional High School Play Festival for “Excellence in Acting” in the one-act “Where Have All the Lightning Bugs Gone?”
Gordon was assisted in this endeavor by two co-directors: fellow junior Noah Harper and senior Jasmin Tifft. Tifft, who plays the White Rabbit, was in last year’s “Mamma Mia!” and has been in musical theater since her freshman year. This is her first year in Davie Players. By contrast, Harper, who plays Tweedle Dum, has been a member of Davie Players since his sophomore year.
A director’s vision is essential to ensuring the success of a show, and for sophomore Raina Calhoun, Gordon’s direction gave her and her fellow actors a supportive setting to develop their performances.
“So Cameron directing-wise was very respectful, very sweet, very kind, and I just think overall,” Calhoun said. “He gave us a lot of free will and ability. He wanted to hear ideas, interpretation, anything—he wanted ideas.”
For the closing show, following tradition, the underclassmen conspired to gather gifts for the graduating seniors. Each student spoke about how each senior they had gotten was special to them, followed by many tears shed by the seniors and gift-givers alike.
“I am upset about the seniors graduating because I know we have some incredible people in this cast,” Calhoun said. “We have so many talented people who bring so much to the table in every single performance, and a lot of people that we get to learn from.”
One such senior, Cora Nicholson, played Tweedle Dee in the production and has been in Davie Players since her sophomore year. For Nicholson, Davie Players has been the class that has left the biggest impact on her in high school.
“From sophomore to senior year, I have felt myself become more confident as well as more comfortable to be myself,” Nicholson said. “The friends that I have made in this class are truly one of a kind.”
Like Nicholson, senior Myka Smith cited Davie Players as being “a huge part” of her high school experience. She has been a member of the group all four years of high school, and in addition to her time here she also plays percussion in concert and marching band. In this production of “Alice in Wonderland,” Smith took on the role of Alice, continuing a pattern that started from her freshman year of taking on a lead role in a show every year, something she says helped push her to be the best she could. The pressure to perform gave her the confidence and drive to keep working to put on a great show alongside her “amazing” castmates.
“I’ve been a part of Davie players all throughout high school and have met amazing people, and I feel that I’ve really grown as a person,” Smith said. “I’ve met some of my best friends through that class, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
