'Absurdity of the immigration system' explored in new theatre show

Ali in Wonder(Eng)land explores the experience of migration through the lens of a classic children’s story, reports Olivia Opara

Performers from LegalAliens theatre company (credit Kuan-Ying Chou)

A Tottenham-based theatre group for migrants and refugees is set to showcase its adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale Alice in Wonderland.

Co-created by theatre company LegalAliens, working with migrants and refugees over a year of weekly classes, Ali in Wonder(Eng)land explores the experience of migration. The production, using Lewis Carroll’s children’s book as a loose structure, follows the character Ali who arrives at the door of a strange land and is subjected to random questioning and people shouting “illegal alien!”, while their body keeps changing size.

The show weaves together personal stories, improvisations inspired by the Life in the UK Test, and ensemble moments, with the cast of 17 each taking turns to play the leading role.

Yuna, an asylum seeker from Singapore and part of the cast, said: “The show helps me express myself in a way that is also relatable for others. The public needs to know what happens in our lives, especially in my case as a transgender woman. My experience is different from the average male asylum seeker from war-torn countries and I feel not enough of our stories are heard.

“Many parts of the show resonate with me, I [know] many people hold bigoted views or people appeared to be nice but it was performative allyship and they tried to silence me when talking about my experience and the show highlights how even people who look nice [often] aren’t genuinely nice.”

LegalAliens is a migrant-led theatre group and project in Tottenham Hale that offers free weekly theatre classes to anyone identifying as a migrant, refugee or asylum seeker, and has been running since 2018. The group has earned ‘theatre of sanctuary’ status and works with theatre professionals who share skills and acting techniques – tackling sensitive themes with elements of Brecht’s socio-political theatre and visuals incorporating text and multimedia.

Lara Parmiani, artistic director of LegalAliens, said: “A participant in one of our weekly groups once said sometimes they felt like Alice in wonderland. We re-read the book and realised how dark some parts are and how perfect it was as a metaphor for the absurdity of the immigration system.

“We even kept some of the rhymes. Having a strong frame in place allowed the group to freely devise scenes letting their imagination run wild, and the result is a mix of hilarious scenes followed by very intimate and personal moments.”

Raquel, another cast member and migrant from Spain, said: “When you move to a new country you do feel like Alice in wonderland, you don’t understand what people say, you feel lost, alone, you miss home.

“You don’t feel like you belong but at the same time you know it’s a journey, a learning experience and that there are laughs as well as tears, and inside something is always telling you you’ll make it.”

Ali in Wonder(Eng)land will show at Jackson’s Lane in Archway Road, Highgate N6 5SS, on Monday, 10th July and Tuesday, 11th at 7.30pm. To find out more:
Visit jacksonslane.org.uk/ events/ali-in-wonderengland

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