ALICE IN BLACK LIGHT : An Acclaimed Prague Touring Troupe Creates a Wonderland of Ultraviolet Magic

Remember that old “disappearing nose” trick your favorite uncle used to pull when you were a kid?

With a conspiratorial grin, he would tweak your nose, then tuck his thumb between his index and middle finger and crow, “Look, I’ve got your nose!”

Instinctively, your hand would fly to your face. You’d catch on soon enough, of course, but you had to admit that just for a minute or two, he really had you.

That momentary surrender to fantasy is at the heart of the Black Light Theatre of Prague’s “Alice in Wonderland.” With a little sleight of hand, coupled with a sprinkling of technical wizardry, the company invites us to turn our backs on reality and join it in a world where the unbelievable is commonplace. The Czechoslovakian touring company will present “Alice” Saturday at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

In its modern form, black light theater combines elements of puppetry, mime and dance with the use of ultraviolet light. Against a black curtain, part of the cast--costumed head to foot in black--manipulates props and set pieces enhanced by special paints that glow under black light, making inanimate objects seem to spring to life.

The roots of black light theater are said to go back centuries, but it is Jiri Srnec, founder of Black Light Theatre of Prague, who is credited by many for reviving and refining the theatrical form.

According to company lore, in the late 1950s, Srnec saw some laundry blowing on a line and imagined (in a thought process worthy of a child) that pairs of men’s underwear were fighting over the women’s panties. He pondered how he could bring that unlikely scenario to life on stage.

After a few years of experimenting, the Black Light Theatre of Prague was formally established in 1961, and performed at the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival the following year.

Since then, the company has toured nearly 50 countries and appeared in arts festivals around the world. Srnec, who wrote, composed and directed “Alice,” still serves as the company’s artistic director.

Lewis Carroll’s surrealistic “Alice” lends itself well to black light theater, according to Lloyd Martin, company manager for the North America tour, its first since 1985. The tour began earlier this month in Alberta, Canada and will conclude mid-March on the East Coast.

“It’s wonderful,” said Lloyd, speaking by phone from Edmonton. “Alice grows and shrinks, objects seem to fly 20 feet up into the air. It’s all quite amazing.”

In the well-known tea party scene, for example, “dishes come to life and fill themselves up (and) the characters are flying about,” he said. “You just can’t describe the magic of it.”

Judging from segments seen in a promotional video, this “Alice” bears as much a resemblance to a traditional stage production as the Cheshire Cat to the family tabby. Presented without dialogue against a backdrop of Srnec’s original music, the brightly--and in some cases, outlandishly--costumed cast spins the tale in a series of loosely connected vignettes, blending contemporary dance styles with broad, mime-like gestures.

Most of Carroll’s eccentric characters are easily recognized. Alice (Marcela Kratachvilova) is winsome and inquisitive, led through her adventures by a puckish White Rabbit (Marak Fait). The Mad Hatter is noticeably absent, however, replaced by a cobbler character, because “ ‘Mad Hatter’ just doesn’t translate into Czech,” said Martin. Unique to the Czech translation is Alice’s antagonist, a menacing, whip-cracking Red Bird.

According to a memo from Srnec in the company’s press packet, “Alice” premiered on Nov. 17, 1989, in West Germany, the same day the Czechoslovakian “Velvet Revolution”--which would ultimately result in the country’s move from Communist rule to democracy--began in Prague.

Although Lloyd feels the show is ideal for family audiences and carries no pressing political message, Srnec’s memo underscores the link between Alice’s adventures and his country’s current political landscape, writing that “the Czech nation, after a long epoch of dark totality, is also passing into a Wonderland.”

What: Black Light Theatre of Prague presents “Alice in Wonderland.”

When: Saturday, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m.

Where: Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, on the UC Irvine campus.

Whereabouts: Exit the San Diego (405) Freeway at Culver Drive, follow signs to Campus Drive and turn right. The theater is located at Campus and Bridge Road, across from the Irvine Marketplace.

Wherewithal: $12 to $23.

Where to call: (714) 854-4646