Review* Underland x Alice - 3.21.24

Doors opened at the New Hazlett Theater a few minutes after 7:30. I arrived early and upon entering the double doors I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people spread out over the lobby. I zipped quickly past familiar faces and went straight for the bathroom. It was a quiet art deco oasis. I sat in a stall for a few minutes, sipped water, updated my friends, and checked in with the winner of the other ticket to the night's performance. Not soon after, a mother and daughter entered the bathroom and I took my cue to leave.

With my bearings, I could see the theatre lobby for all of its colors. Finely dressed men and women and children adorned with long coats, hair done in curls, and coils, locs and waves holding amorous bouquets of red, pink and yellow roses. Lines began to form outside of both theater doors, while the walkway to the balcony remained open. I was glad to arrive early and witness how the house came alive.

I walked up to the balcony and an usher scanned my ticket to permit me inside. I walked up to the top row of seating and made myself comfortable in the middle of the row. Underland X Alice graphics played on the drop-down screens that hung over the stage and a playlist of house, afrobeat, amapiano, and hip-hop played to the voices of Beyonce, Burna Boy and Meg Thee Stallion.

Underland X Alice was choreographed and directed by Kontara Morphis who is credited as a CSA (Community Supported Artist) in 2023 and 2024 and by Zachariah Washington.

In Kontara's own words Underland X Alice [features] modern contemporary dance with theatrical acting through movement. The story is about a young girl who is finding herself. It starts in the 1920s in the Greenwood District during the Tulsa Massacre, which shows the impact of outside-world trauma and how that affects you as an individual. Then it breaks down into how your community impacts you. From there it breaks down even further to your family dynamic, and all of these different layers create the person that you are.

It’s definitely an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Alice transfers into Underland, which is a mental escape. In Underland, everybody can just be honest and true and who they want to be. This is Alice‘s first time being in this space and escaping to this world, so she’s finding all this magic, and she’s also realizing that a lot of what’s happening in the real world now makes sense because of Underland. They’re afraid of whatever’s happening in the real world.

As the houselights dimmed, signaling the near start of the show, the Mad Hatter encouraged the audience to use their imagination to understand what is going on. And now I understand why! Outside of pivotal plot moments, the play utilized dance as the primary mode of expression and communication between characters. I appreciated this choice because it returned focus to the body and recentered how much bodies can communicate and express through movement and posture. I thought when did I begin to place more value on what is said and how it is said and less so the physical expression of people? Admittedly there were some aspects of the play that were lost on me. In those moments I think some type of framing line or text could keep the narrative clear, but maybe that is the beauty of this play. That it relies on the pieces -- lighting, music, dance, speech, costumes as much as each audience member's own imagination to work. That creates a unique experience for everyone watching because it would be impossible for every audience member to come away with the same interpretation. What was my interpretation? In the face of very real violence happening in Greenwood, Niggas was acting up and decided to distract themselves by keeping up with each other, forming cliques and asserting power and influence. The woman they ostracize was raped by a family member and constructed her entire life in spite of the people who turned on her, but she still cares about her daughter. At the end she feels defeated because her daughter doesn't love her. By the end of the play, Alice is disillusioned by the reality that her own mother took her life because no one knew her, believed her, or loved her. Alice sobs at the end of the play and Alice's stepmother is crowned queen of Underland.

So what's my takeaway? Silence kills. Talk your shit and love yourself unapologetically. My healing isn't for anyone else except me. Takeaway from this? Relatable. The silence was relatable as were the songs and dances, displays of finery shrouding mess, toxic dependence, domination and control. What things, or decisions do I assent to daily without word? Communication has ruptured what I thought was peace and showed me how thin reality can be when you have dozens of people living in a community who don't know who other people are. Even thinner when I realize it is because we don't know ourselves. My art -- music and writing have been the modes through which I've discovered who I am, through what I can physically do, through the need to create ( as if an appetite ), through my commitment to return to the places I've been through past writing and songs seeds. At the same time, I believe that the purpose of my art is to bring myself closer to the God in Me so that I can connect to the God in other people. and by God, I mean the truths of who I am. To know, to see, to love, to forgive, to nourish, and live another day in full presence, praise and gratitude. I know that the destiny of my art isn't to stay on pages, or old boxed-up journals, or a graveyard of untitled voice notes. i must share to connect, and speak my truth to connect with others. Death begins long before the last breathe in every decision that leads up to it. To choose life is to be present in every decision I make for my own greater good, which then touches the people closest to me, and expands and expands until it affects the world at large.

If you missed Underland X Alice I'm so sorry. Sitting at the back of the theater, I know for certain there are recordings of the performances floating around social media and family whatsapp group chats, but I can tell you, these recordings do the production no justice. I don't know when Underland X Alice will return to the public, but I do know that when it does it will set the city on fire.

best wishes,

Aaleah C. Oliver