Alice by Heart

Alice by Heart is a story about what happens when the world we know disappears and we are asked to grow before we are ready. Set within a London Underground shelter during World War II, Alice retreats into the story of Wonderland as the reality around her becomes increasingly impossible to bear. At the center of that reality is Alfred, her childhood companion, whose illness forces Alice to confront the one thing imagination cannot change: she is running out of time with someone she loves.

Our production allowed Wonderland to emerge directly from the bunker. Rather than leaving reality behind, the characters, objects, sounds, and relationships surrounding Alice transformed as her imagination reshaped them. The people sheltering beside her became the figures of Wonderland, the artists of the bunker became the musicians of her story, and movement became a primary language through which memory, fear, resistance, and grief could take physical form. As the outside world pressed in through sirens, explosions, and the realities of war, Wonderland became increasingly intertwined with the truth Alice was trying not to face. When the adults took away her book, they could remove the object from her hands, but they could not remove the story that had already become part of her.

At its heart, this production was about the courage required to remain present when we cannot control the ending. Alice begins by using Wonderland to hold onto the world she knows, but as she grows, imagination can no longer protect her from loss. Instead, it gives her a language through which to understand it. Wonderland does not erase Alfred's suffering or change what is coming. It teaches Alice how to stay beside him through it. The story ultimately became an exploration of accompaniment, memory, and love: the recognition that growing up is not learning how to avoid grief, but discovering that we can carry what we have loved with us even after it changes.