The Hatter

As you enter Studio 16 you are greeted by your host The Hatter (Andrew Wade) who offers you a spot of tea from a table that has piles of all types of tea spread around it. I had a cup of chamomile which was lovely and made me feel welcome at his tea party. This is not just any tea party but one hosted by the famous Mad Hatter, although as we are soon to find out he is not very mad anymore, in fact he is quite sane and thus has been cast out of Wonderland.  This show is his quest to find his way out of our world and back to Wonderland.  He needs the help of the audience on his quest but don’t fear it’s a lot of fun to help him in song, story, battle-scenes or by just enjoying a personally crafted cup of tea.

With a stage cluttered with cutlery, tea, and condiments our Host directly addresses us in a friendly and comfortable manner.  The show starts in a crazy and frenzied way – the narration moving from poems to songs to audience interaction to his stories and those from other characters visiting from Wonderland. He works to bring the audience on his side, to understand why he was exiled and assist him to find his way home.  As the story evolves we realize that the madness he seeks is an escape for a very true reality that he lives in this world.

The show is solid but has moments where it seems to lose focus and the script could use some tightening.  I felt at times that Mr. Wade could benefit from having a director to assist to focus and shape parts of the show.  Wade is a very talented singer with great comic timing and solid improv skills which he uses to take the audience with him on an entertaining adventure that has a great deal of laughter…and hey, the Jabberwocky scene alone was worth the price of admission.