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The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

  • 5 stars

    “Transformative theatre”

  • 4 stars

    “Irresistible”

Returning to the Royal Opera House in September 2024

4th – 24th September 2024, Royal Opera House, (London) *Strictly limited run* 

It’s back! Don’t miss the highly anticipated return of the acclaimed ZooNation production The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party to the Royal Opera House Linbury Theatre this autumn, marking a decade since its original debut.
ZooNation is thrilled to be reviving this ZooNation classic with director Kate Prince at the helm, who reimagines Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland into a Hip Hop infused tea party like no other.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Broadway World
“Tranformative theatre… Just wow, it doesn’t stop serving”
⭐⭐⭐⭐ – The Telegraph
“An irresistible celebration of dance and differentness” 

“This show is joy from start to finish” – Seeing Dance

Book now

About the show

The Queen of Hearts has anger issues, Alice is confused about just how big or small her body actually is. The Mad Hatter, suffering from mercury poisoning, never wants to stop having tea! Ernest has his work cut out for him at his new job. He is tasked to fix people who have been locked away for not being ‘normal’. As he gets closer to his patients, Ernest realises: what’s so great about being ‘normal’ anyway?

Kate Prince worked with her frequent collaborators Josh Cohen and DJ Walde to create original music on top of the narrative. Together, they created a palette of music, incorporating various musical styles, artists and influences, with each character getting their own unique musical motif.

In Lewis Carroll’s story, for instance, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum have a battle over a rattle. In The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, this is reimagined as a B-Boy battle, a common practice in hip-hop culture. Breakbeats were used as the musical palette for these characters.

Meet the cast

Introducing the 2024 cast 

Kelly Agbowu
Issac Baptiste aka Turbo
Lindon Barr
Jaih Betote
Bradley “Bradz” Charles
Harrison Dowzell
Sheree DuBois
Tommy Franzen
Nestor Garcia Gonzalez
Natasha Gooden
Ross Green
Jade Hackett
Ryan Hughs
Andry Oporia
Portia Oti
Malinda Parris
Shaneeka Simon
Elijah Smith
Malachi Welch
Teddy Wills
With Young Artists Training Scheme members Nethra Menon and Uzuazo O’David

Creative Team

Director and writer: Kate Prince
Choreography: Kate Prince and members of the company
Music: Josh Cohen and DJ Walde
Lyrics: Kate Prince, Josh Cohen and DJ Walde
Set and costume design: Ben Stones
Lighting design: Natasha Chivers
Sound design: David McEwan
Vocal director – Amy Hsu

Limited availability

Book a screening or workshop

Rent the production for your educational group for £25 (including VAT and booking fee) and have unlimited access to an online full show stream for five days.

ZooNation also offer industry led workshops, ideal for school, community and educational groups who would like to discover more about the creative process, choreography and characters behind the show.

Rent The Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Own the soundtrack

Support ZooNation and our talented artists by purchasing the official The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party soundtrack. Featuring much loved tracks from the show including Funk it up, Hatter’s House and Wonderland. 

Purchase on Apple Music

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party Resource Pack

Ideal for key stages 3, 4, 5 and BTEC, this essential guide for dance educators offers students access to show clips, tutorials, workshop ideas and features an exclusive interview with Kate Prince and set designer Ben Stones.

Download the pack

Bring The Mad Hatter's Tea Party to your theatre, cinema or arts venue

A high quality film of this spectacular show is available to hire for commercial use. Screenings of the performance can be arranged with our production team for audiences to watch and enjoy all over the globe.

contact sandra@zoonation.co.uk

For more information on booking this production please contact Sandra Castell García (Executive Producer) sandra@zoonation.co.uk