Players of the Stage, a nonprofit youth theater group, will present “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” onstage Dec. 5, 6, 7, 13 and 14 at its new location, Citylight Bible Church, 1921 Union Blvd., Allentown.

“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is based on Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, co-director Marian Barshinger said. “Tim Kelly wrote the script adaptation of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.’ The music and lyrics were chosen from public domain works.”

This literary children’s classic tells the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of humanlike characters.

Allentown residents Jenna Dobrowolski, who plays Alice and Owen Dobrowolski, who plays the White Rabbit comment on their roles.

“Alice is a young girl who lives in the mid to late 1800s. As her sister is reading a book to her, she falls asleep and slips into a dream world of Wonderland,” Jenna Dobrowolski said. Here she meets a wide variety of characters determined to test everything she thought she knew about the world.

“She is generally a sweet girl and prone to wonder, but her temper slips out more and more as the play goes on and the characters continue to be confusing and crude to her.”

Jenna Dobrowolski said what she likes most about being Alice in this show is she is not just bringing a classic story to life, she is getting to experience the same wonder and discovery Alice did when she was in Wonderland.

“Wonderland represents the adult world to Alice. It’s confusing and she doesn’t seem to quite fit in,” Jenna Dobrowolski said. “At first it is interesting and fun, a strange novelty, but little Alice discovers that it isn’t as easy and free as she thought, and the wonder gradually is sucked out of Wonderland for her.

“I’m excited to be able to bring to life some of that beauty and discovery in this show, and to take the audience on the ride with me as I, Alice, and the rest of the world continue to try to figure out what it means to be an adult and how to let the wonder live on.”

Jenna Dobrowolski said without any doubt, one of her favorite parts of this show is all the people she gets to be with.

“I know everybody always says that, but it really is true, for this show especially. ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ is just a crazy, exciting show to be in. The whole cast gets to goof off and have fun, playing and experimenting in Wonderland together. We get the chance to bring something weird and quirky and beautiful to life, and it’s an experience that I’ll never forget,” she said.

Owen Dobrowolski said his character is always running to somewhere, even if he’s not sure where. “The White Rabbit is a character who is always marking the way for Alice and showing she’s on the right path,” he said. This concept of character is used more often after the White Rabbit was created. He is nervous around everyone in Wonderland (except sometimes Alice) and even the weirdest creatures think the White Rabbit is really strange.”

Owen Dobrowolski said he really enjoys hopping around and popping up in random situations. “It’s fun to let my energy flow through my character even the nervous energy,” he said. “Another part of my character that I enjoy is being the animal who brought Alice, and the symbol of all the things that are happening to her.”

He said his favorite part of the show is literally just being in the show.

“I love the nervous energy of performing a play, hanging out with the cast during free time and the rush of adrenaline afterward that makes you eventually crash. This specific show has a wide range of personalities, so it’s fun to see all the unique costumes and makeup,” Owen Dobrowolski said.

Washington Township resident David Phelps, who plays the King of Hearts said, “I enjoy playing my character because he really has no idea what’s going on. He sort of just follows the Queen of Hearts around.”

Phelps said he enjoys being in this show because of the good environment created by the directors and his peers. “The costumes and sets are amazing, my favorite of any show,” Phelps said.

South Whitehall resident Libi Martinez who plays the Queen of Hearts explained, “The Queen of Hearts is the main antagonist in the story of Alice and Wonderland. She’s usually described as being aimlessly furious. She orders the heads off everyone that crosses her and instills fear into her subjects.”

She said she likes the challenge playing her character gives her.

“I’ve never played a character with such extreme emotions,” Martinez said.

“I like that I get to work with my friends and directors to make this show the best it can be” she added. Martinez said the queen strikes her as a person who uses her power and her rage to cover up the insecurities and fears she secretly has.

This play is being codirected by Barshinger and Amber Cade.

“Marian has been in charge of Act One and Amber has taken Act Two,” Barshinger said. “We’ve had amazing help from Andrew MacDonald as our assistant director.

“‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ is about the process of growing up and how confusing and sometimes terrifying that can be,” Barshinger said. “The world that Alice has tumbled into starts off full of wonder, absurdity and fun, but she soon sees through the cracks and starts to see it is also full of contradictions and unfairness. Alice must persevere and stand up for herself and others in order to conquer Wonderland and climb out of the rabbit hole as a wiser and stronger girl.

“We wanted to choose something that would allow the children to try a different style of acting — one more fantastical and hyperbolic,” Barshinger said. “‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ is a play that celebrates youth and nonsense, and it contains characters that transcend time and still excite young actors to this day. They’d done singular scenes from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ during the summer camp productions and we wanted to give them a chance to tackle the full show.”

“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” will be performed onstage 7 p.m. Dec. 5, 6, 7, 13 and 14 and 2 p.m. Dec. 7 and 14 at Citylight Bible Church, 1921 Union Blvd., Allentown.

In lieu of an admission fee, a freewill offering will be taken to benefit H.O.P.E Kids of Allentown, a ministry supporting underprivileged children of Allentown.

“We chose to support H.O.P.E Kids of Allentown. As we see in Alice’s story, childhood is full of wonder and excitement. However, it can also be full of tremendous challenges,” Barshinger said. “Players of the Stage, as a children’s theater, has immense care for young people. We have a desire that all kids can grow up with the emotional, educational, financial and spiritual support they need to flourish. H.O.P.E Kids ministers to the children of our local community and we are grateful to partner with them.”

Reservations are required for all performances.

To reserve tickets to this show or for more information, go to playersofthestage.org.