Mercersburg Academy’s Stony Batter Players will present Alice in Wonderland Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4, at 7 p.m. in the Boys’ Garden. The performance is free, and all are welcome to attend. In the event of rain, the production will take place in the Burgin Center for the Arts’ Hale Studio Theatre.

“We have a long tradition of performing classical pieces outdoors in the spring. Though Shakespeare is a frequent choice, last year we produced an abridged version of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde,” said Matt Maurer, director of the performance. “This year, I wanted something fun and familiar, but with a flexible cast. A one-act Alice fit the bill perfectly.”

While the story of Alice in Wonderland is well known, this version has some unique aspects. “Most of the familiar characters are here, as well as the dialogue. It does not, however, have musical numbers like those in the Disney animated film,” said Maurer. “Our Alice is not dependent on lighting, set pieces, effects, or elaborate costuming for every character. The scene changes are narrated to quickly move Alice from one encounter to the next. Though we ‘stuck to the script’ textually, elements of devised theatre were part of our rehearsal process, so the entire cast had a hand in creating the conventions, or ‘rules,’ of our Wonderland.”

See a full cast list below. The next performance from Mercersburg’s arts program will be the Spring Dance Concert on Saturday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m. This event is also free and open to the public.     

Cast List

• Grace Beard ’25: Bill, Cheshire Cat, Rose
• Charlie Betkowski ’24: Fury, Squire, Knave of Hearts
• Margaux d'Arabian ’25: Mouse, Duchess, King of Hearts
• Keri-Ann Denis ’25: Alice
• Emma DiLalla ’24: Tree #1, Tweedle Dee, Queen Mother
• April Hoge ’24: Gardener Seven
• Georgia Hoge ’24: Gardener Five
• Leilani Isel-Register ’24: Tree #4, Tweedle Dum, Guard
• Renee Jin ’26: Pat, Caterpillar, March Hare  
• Ava Jones ’25: Queen of Hearts
• Catherine Kidd ’24: Tree #2, Carpenter, Tiger Lily
• Maddie Mamoudis ’27: Eaglet, Pigeon, Dormouse
• Janie Miller ’26: Jane
• Ary Small ’27: White Rabbit, Oysters
• William Tutt ’25: Dodo, Jabberwock, Cook, Mad Hatter
• Iseo Yun ’24: Tree #3, Walrus, Daisy
• Barbara Gamboa ’26: Stage Manager

Tech Crew

• Nate Bachtell ’26
• Irene Jin ’27
• Peyton Minor ’26
• William Shen ’27
• Paul Swetland ’25
• Jenny Wang ’27
• Jolie Zhu ’26