"ALICE: Tales of a Curious Girl" at Penn State Behrend Studio Theatre November 12, 2009

“ALICE: Tales of a Curious Girl” by playwright Karen Hartman will be the fall Studio Theatre production at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.

While the title character may be familiar, “this is not Disney’s version of the Lewis Carroll stories,” says production director Chrystyna Dail, a member of Penn State Behrend’s theatre faculty. The storyline is indeed driven by a curious girl named Alice who leaps from a stifling photographer’s studio into a Wonderland where cakes talk, cats smoke, and little girls change size, “but Hartman’s play draws heavily on direct literary devices found in the Carroll books,” Dail said. “This Alice story examines Carroll’s construction of gender within his novels, and how they support or contradict Victorian notions of gender.”

Although nontraditional in the retelling, “this is a fast-past, very funny adaptation of these well-loved Alice stories, and accessible even to kids ages 10 and up,” Dail said. “Hartman herself calls ALICE ‘serious comedy.’”

The title role of Alice will be played by Penn State Behrend student Kylie Swanson. Also in the cast are Preston Barrett, Shay Conto, Chris DeMarco, Nina Diehl, Stephanie Kaelin, Cassie Kosmal, Bryan Monroe, Jose Picado, Kevin Roche, Charlotte Sweetland, and Carissa Zozos.

“ALICE: Tales of a Curious Girl” performance dates are 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12, Friday, Nov. 13, Saturday, Nov. 14, Tuesday, Nov. 17, Wednesday, Nov. 18, and Thursday, Nov. 19. There will be one 2 p.m. matinee, on Sunday, Nov. 15.

Tickets are $7 for students and $10 for general admission; reservations can be made by phoning the Penn State Behrend Office of Student Activities at 814-898-6242.

Official Website: http://www.behrend.psu.edu