THEATER REVIEW : ‘Alice’ Gets an Update and an Inventive Spin : Lit Moon Theatre Company’s ‘Wonderland’ is running in repertory with a sequel, ‘Through the Looking Glass.’

When Alice says, “I think I’ve changed several times since I got up today,” it’s a conclusion that audiences will particularly appreciate in the revival of Lit Moon Theatre Company’s innovative production of “Alice in Wonderland,” currently playing in repertory with a new sequel, “Through the Looking Glass.”

In “Alice,” the role of Lewis Carroll’s bewildered child heroine is now performed by three identically clad actresses, who trade places to show three distinct facets of Alice’s emerging personality.

Shana Lynch is the playful Alice, who delights in the whimsical absurdity of Wonderland, Victoria Finlayson is the thoughtful, reasoning Alice trying to solve the various puzzles and riddles she faces, and Erin Fiedler embodies the physical side of Alice in a staging that addresses the subterranean issues of fragmented identity in Lewis Carroll’s writings. The three performers minimize the confusion with considerable overlap in their characterizations and fluid transitional switches.

Nevertheless, forcing an audience to keep track of three Alices isn’t the most straightforward presentational strategy--but finding unconventional ways to tell a story is the forte of Lit Moon director and founder John Blondell.

Rather than working with a scripted adaptation, Blondell’s approach to Lit Moon’s staged works of classical literature is to start with an extended improvisation process in which the company collectively explores ways to represent the chosen text in purely physical terms, using techniques adapted from dance, movement theater, and performance art.

Only after the piece has been blocked out and the characters defined is the dialogue added, excerpted verbatim from the text.

The result is less reliant on traditional narrative-based dramatic devices, and both productions delight with their constant ingenuity in casting new light on the familiar figures of Carroll’s Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and other lunatic creations.

Representing even the simplest locations has been ingeniously thought out--”Alice’s” sea of tears created from billowing fabric, or the boating scene in “Looking Glass,” in which performers form reeds streaming past.

Matthew Tavianini, the only performer retained from Lit Moon’s original “Alice” production two years ago, proves the most accomplished and natural with the rapid character changes and intense physical demands of the two plays, contorting himself into a table or taking innumerable backward pratfalls as the bumbling White Knight.

While not yet at the same level of Tavianini’s seemingly effortless dexterity, the newer cast members have adapted impressively to the shows’ unique performance requirements--especially Stan Hoffman’s deranged chess pieces in “Looking Glass” (the Red Queen and White King) and Mills’ wistful Mock Turtle in “Alice,” sighing nostalgically for the academic pursuits of his school days (Reeling, Writhing, and the branches of Arithmetic: Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision).

In addition to the movement-based representations, the characters are defined by the distinctive masks crafted by costume designer Lesley Finlayson, who brings a surreal--and often disturbing--look to the production, reinforced in Theodore Michael Dolas’ abstract set and eerie lighting. Composer Michael Mortilla provides the original piano accompaniment in both pieces.

Ironically, despite numerous past presentations of “Alice,” the newer “Looking Glass” offers the tighter ensemble work--the cast members seem more comfortable with characters they’ve evolved rather than inherited.

But “Looking Glass” lacks the thematic integrity that makes “Alice” so emotionally affecting--her transformation from a disoriented and often silly child into a more responsible girl, and the loss of innocence that accompanies it.

By the time we meet her in “Looking Glass,” Alice’s initially-fragmented identity has stabilized into a single portrayal (Lynch’s), and the focus shifts from the inner realm of character evolution to the purely episodic chaos of her external environment.

But whether you prefer looking inward or gazing out, either show is bound to make you take a second look at a once-familiar childhood friend.

Details

* WHAT: “Alice in Wonderland”

* WHEN: Tonight at 8, Saturday at 2 p.m.

* WHERE: Center Stage Theater, Paseo Nuevo Shopping Center in Santa Barbara.

* HOW MUCH: $13

* FYI: For reservations or further information, call (805) 963-0408.

* WHAT: “Through the Looking Glass”

* WHEN: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.

* WHERE: Center Stage Theater, Paseo Nuevo Shopping Center in Santa Barbara.

* COST: $13

* FYI: For reservations or further information, call (805) 963-0408.