Piles of pantos, never-ending Nutcrackers and an abundance of Dickens adaptations: ’tis the season for Theatreland to fall back on tried and tested family favourites. But if you’ve had your fill of more familiar festive fare, there’s still plenty for you and the kids to enjoy around Birmingham, including at the city’s Old Rep Theatre, where Birmingham Ormiston Academy (BOA) is putting on a brand new version of Alice In Wonderland.

“Our vision here at the Old Rep is to provide Christmas entertainment using traditional stories for young children, primarily those aged four to 10,” explains producer Suzanne Priest. “There’s something about fairytales and traditional stories that open up imaginative possibilities in theatre for young people, as well as giving our creative team the opportunity to explore fantasy worlds and characters that really come to life on stage. Then to leave that question at the end as to whether it was real or just a dream - I think that really excites children’s curiosity.”

Emphasising the traditional aspect, this is a largely faithful staging of the novel, a choice made partly with school visits in mind. Alongside the show, the company has been running workshops with classes also studying the book. This approach to the text can be seen right down to the design, which takes its cues from John Tenniel’s original illustrations.

“If you go back to the original books, there are lots of really lovely patterns, especially in the costumes,” says designer Libby Todd. “If you look at a character like the Queen of Hearts, for example, a lot of versions now just show her with quite a plain, big red dress, but the illustrations are actually very detailed - a bit like the designs on a pack of cards.”

That said, there has been some ‘artistic licence’. One key element is the inclusion of Tweedledee and Tweedledum (whose first appearance is in the sequel story, Through The Looking Glass), since it was felt the comic duo brought something important to the show’s dynamic. Then, there’s the matter of Alice herself.

“Sometimes with productions of Alice In Wonderland, Alice can feel slightly on the edge of the show, like an observer rather than an active participant,” says director Scott Le Crass. “I think our version is much more feisty, with lots of get up and go. She’s an adventurer who’s inquisitive and excited and intrigued by everything.”

Digital projection and puppetry are among the elements used to develop a fresh and unique landscape for Wonderland. Rather than a sharp transition, strange, slightly unreal elements are present from the beginning, creating a more natural progression from the ‘normal’ world into a Wonderland that becomes more weird and wacky as the story progresses.

There’s also been room for invention in the score, which combines settings of songs and poems from the book with original numbers imitating Carroll’s distinctive style. The Caucus Race, for example, is full of nonsense lyrics, while Off With His Head delights in grisly detail.

“The score has all sorts of strange noises in it,” says composer Steve Allan Jones. “It’s taken me seven months to put it together, and it’s unbelievably complicated. I thought it would work really well to bring in toy instruments - things like little pianos and flutes, and whatever I could find really. Some of them are even out of crackers!”

But what really makes this production special is the collaboration between professional and student cast and crew. Six lead actors work alongside an ensemble of post-16 BOA students, while BOA and BSA apprentices are partnered with the in-house team in areas like technical theatre, front of house, marketing and stage management. Acting BTEC student Caleb Clarke is excited about the skills the show has helped them all to develop.

“It’s an amazing experience, and so different to anything I’ve done at school,” says Caleb. “This is actually the first musical I’ve been involved in, so I was a little bit intimidated by it at first. When the audition came along, I thought I’d go for it, because if nothing else it would be good audition experience. So when I found out I’d been cast, I was over the moon, because I’d never thought of myself as a singer or dancer before.”
As well as having their own specific animal characters to work on, the students also understudy lead roles, are responsible for scene changes, and get to operate a star attraction of the show: the Cheshire Cat puppet, which has been cleverly designed to appear and disappear in stages.

“It takes seven of us to operate the puppet,” explains Caleb. “It’s all in different sections - so there’s one for the head, four legs, a body and a tail. It’s really interesting trying to fit everyone in when you’re making the full image - you’ve got to keep a lot in your head to make it work.”

As well as puppetry workshops, rehearsals have also involved learning how to fully engage young audiences. But perhaps as important as any individual skill they’ve picked up has been the chance to play around and enjoy the process.

“You’ve got to have a lot of energy,” says Caleb’s fellow Acting BTEC student, Ava Ralph. “It’s important to really bring out the character in your movements and facial expressions, much more than you would for an adult audience.”

“I’ve got young family coming to see it,” adds Caleb, “so I already know how full-on you have to be to keep them entertained for two hours, but it’s so much fun! In Wonderland, you get to say and do the most ridiculous things - it’s really liberating being able to bring out your inner child and stomp around on stage!”

Alice In Wonderland shows at the Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham, until Saturday 30 December.