Cirque Alice Names Cast for European Premiere at Southbank Centre
The cast for the European premiere of Cirque Alice has been announced, with the show opening at the Southbank Centre in London on 12 December 2026 and running to 3 January 2027, according to WhatsOnStage.
Cirque Alice is a circus show based on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It was created by Simon Painter and Tim Lawson, and it is presented by Roast Productions and Senbla in association with Lawson and Painter. The show will play the Royal Festival Hall, where on-stage seating places audiences close to the action.
Layla Schillert has been cast as Alice. Darren "Dizzy" Partridge plays the Mad Hatter, and Billy Ellitts is the White Rabbit. The Cheshire Cat is played by Raphael Papo, a violinist.
The circus acts make up much of the cast list. Dario Togni and Michael Togni play the Tweedles, performing Icarian Games, a style in which performers launch and catch one another. Four performers, Enkhzaya Battogoo, Dolgorsuren Ganbold, Doljinsuren Ganbold and Shinechimeg Otgonbayar, form a contortion quartet, bending their bodies into extreme shapes, as the Caterpillar.
Other acts include Vladyslav Tsarov as Snap Dragonfly on the flying pole, and Viktor Hladchenko as the March Hare, who performs on a cyr wheel, a large metal hoop he moves inside. Ibrahim Jobu Ramadhani and Fadhili Ramadhani, known as the Ramadhani Brothers, play the Knights with head balancing. Daniel Onofre is the Dormouse, performing Rolla Bolla, a balancing act on a pole and board.
Veronika Ivanova plays the Queen of Hearts with a hand balance. Anna Stelmakh and Evgeni Slepukhin are the Flamingos, performing Duo Daylight. Duo Transcend, Mary Ellen Nielsen Wolfe and Spencer Tyce Nielsen, play the White Queen and White King as a roller-skating pair.
The ensemble includes dancers Lillianna Clifton, Kenya McKay-Goodridge, Mark Samaras, Ricardo Walker and Sasha Woodward. Molly Hord is the organist. Musical arrangements are by Martin Raabe-Olsen and Marius Christiansen.
The creative team is led by creative directors Ash Jacks McCready and Kirsty Painter. Dane Bates is the choreographer, Angela Aaron designed the costumes, and Hugo Mercier is the lighting designer.
For anyone planning a visit, the run is short. It covers the Christmas and New Year period, from 12 December to 3 January, at a venue that sits on the South Bank of the Thames.
