Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is the Australian Ballet’s biggest production of the year, breaking records for the number of costumes and set pieces ever made by the company. It’s a bold work seemingly premised on the philosophy that ‘more is more’.

At the hands of British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and his creative team, Lewis Carroll’s familiar story has been transformed into a spectacular visual feast for the stage. Purists may turn at the thought of a tap-dancing Mad Hatter or ballerinas dancing in the theatre aisles like vaudeville showgirls, but entertainment is the objective here. Wheeldon has embraced the outrageousness of Carroll’s characters and built a fantasy world around them that is remarkably ambitious in scale.

^{Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Photograph © Jeff Busby}

The work begins with a garden party at the home of Alice Liddell – the girl who inspired the original book in 1865 – where Lewis Carroll himself entertains the guests with his stories and antics. Meanwhile, Alice, who is presented as a young woman rather than a girl, soon develops feelings for the gardener’s son, Jack. Their blossoming relationship sets up a loose through-line for the entire...