The Cambridge American Stage Tour brings its Alice-in-Wonderland version of "The Winter's Tale," one of Shakespeare's most enchanting and moving plays, to MIT this week.
The play, directed and produced by students from the University of Cambridge, features eight undergraduates playing 20 characters, aided and abetted by a selection of rag dolls.
Illuminated with subtle reference to Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," Shakespeare's text is configured to stress the fantastical world of Bohemia by using familiar childhood motifs. For example, the old shepherd becomes the Mad Hatter with his son, the March Hare.
CAST, which is sponsored by MIT's Dramashop, has toured America since 1999. Its roots are in the ADC (Amateur Dramatic Club) Theatre, the oldest student theater in Britain, which has nurtured talents such as Sam Mendes, John Cleese and Sir Ian McKellen.
Performances of "The Winter's Tale" will take place Sept. 18, 19 and 20 at 8 p.m. in Kresge Little Theater. Tickets cost $8, $6 for students. For reservations, see web.mit.edu/dramashop. For more information, contact Hayden Taylor at hkt@mit.edu or call (857) 928-6316.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on September 19, 2007 (download PDF).
