Meet The Hatter UK Tour Review (Mansfield Palace Theatre)

02 October 2025 I 18:00 I Mansfield Palace Theatre

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To celebrate the company's 15th anniversary, Joss Arnott Dance return with their triumphant production of Meet The Hatter, a devised solo performance combining dance and multimedia visuals. Boasting a cinematic greatness, the eccentricity of Lewis Carroll's beloved Hatter (Alice's Adventures In Wonderland) is rendered in a conceptually sophisticated revival. Challenging the boundaries of imagination for adults and children alike.

Infamous for his tea parties, the Hatter is downhearted when no-one turns up to join in his festivities. It is the audience's privilege to join him, as Hatter creates his own magical world, venturing through mystical worlds and outer space to find companions for his party. All achieved with a single performer, an empty stage and projection, in one of the most ambitiously successful approaches to theatre I have ever seen.

Photography Credit: Josh Tomalin

Led by multimedia artists Urban Projections, the performance opens with Hatter's dreary and dark party table. Brought to fruition with a gauze towards the front of the stage, projection first appear here and then through to the back wall with a three-dimensional quality, the Hatter often in the space between. With intricately rehearsed positioning, he is able to perform with these animated designs. Whether breakdancing with a rabbit-man or swimming through oceans of tea in outer space, you lose yourself in worlds created purely through technology.

The suspension of belief is aided by Josh Tomalin's lighting designs, well establishing a variety of locations through colour and depth. An example sees Hatter transported to a scorching desert illuminated with orange tones. Tomalin's consideration of colour is intrinsically clear to create an atmosphere readable for every audience, crafting engaging visuals without physical setting.

Photography Credit: Hawk Photo Film

Alternating the role across the tour, tonight's Hatter Robbie Ordoña is exquisite beyond words. The fluidity in which he carries himself is endlessly charming, leaning into the character's curious theatricality. Ordoña imbues his body language with such emotiveness, crucially the loneliness in opening scenes. This gives a vulnerability to Hatter that is so important to humanise his behaviour beyond the stereotypes of madness.

A final mention must be awarded for Oleta Haffner's sound compositions, showcasing a blockbuster melodrama to compliment many paces and styles of dance. The music begins as you walk into the auditorium, a bouncy and twinkly quality that breathes Hatter's enchanting world into the air.

Commissioned by Lincoln Arts Centre, Meet The Hatter thrives in its ability to awaken pure wonder for its younger audiences (recommended for ages 5+), but equally to satisfy the inner child for those older. To marvel at an extraordinarily designed piece of theatre from artistic director Joss Arnott. Audiences are up on their feet in a surprise interactive ending, a playful farewell that allows children to become their own magicians. This production is gold dust in today's world, an hour-long memory to cherish forever.

Tickets & Touring Info: https://jossarnottdance.com/productions/meet-the-hatter/