Award-winning playwright and actor Will Power’s adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland” brings Lewis Carol’s timeless children’s classic out of the dark ages and on to the modern stage; it will play in the Margo Jones Theater in the Owen Arts Center through Sunday. (SPENCER J EGGERS/ The Daily Campus)

If you stumble down the rabbit hole or pass through a looking glass Wednesday night, you might just find yourself in the Margo Jones Theater in the Owen Arts Center.

“Alice Underground” is a brand new production developed and directed by the 2010 Meadows Prize winner Will Power. The production will open Wednesday at 8 p.m. and will run through Sunday in the Margo Jones Theater.

The production will be an entirely unique one according to Power.

“We created it here. This version has never been seen before,” he said. “The process that we took to develop this was one of ensemble building, which means we didn’t come in with a finished text or script. We all together built the show.”

The production is based on Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland,” but the show will be a whole new animal.

“We had a blueprint because it’s the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ story so we knew it, but we remade it, we re-imagined it and we kind of presented it new,” Power said. “It’s never been seen before. It’s a unique piece of theater.”

“It’s the same story, but we are reimagining the characters, reimagining some of the situations, and reimagining the issues of it.”

Power has been seeing theater performances since he was 5-years-old. When he was ten he got involved with a children’s theater company in San Francisco. “It just was a great way to kind of express myself,” Power said.

“There were a lot of crazy things going on in the neighborhood at the time. A lot of drama and violence and stuff, it was kind of my way to express the world around me,” he said.

He’s been involved with theater, television and film ever since.

Power was awarded the Meadows Prize in 2010. The Meadows School of the Arts awards the prize to two artists each year.

This prize comes with a four-to-eight-week residency and a $25,000 stipend.

The show was crafted by a group of SMU students and has no script. Much of the show will be largely improvised — based on the actors’ creations.

Power was fascinated by Alice’s wrestling with the world she learned from her parents and what the world really is.

“A lot of times some of us might come from a sheltered background and we haven’t had the opportunity to meet people from different classes, different ethnicities or different political views,” he said.

“Some of us live in a homogenous community so when we go to college or we get out there those beliefs that we’ve incorporated from our families or our communities are often times tested. I was really fascinated by the fact that Alice stumbles into this world that makes no sense. What about the world today does not make sense? Because the world today does not make sense. So you have to kind of make sense by not making sense in the world.”

Adam Anderson is a junior acting major. He has been an actor all his life.

Anderson attended the Middle School of the Arts in Florida and he specialized in theater. “I was thrown into it. I loved it. I think it’s natural for me. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I’m a very creative person.”

“When I heard of [Power] I was all ears. I was ready to jump on board because it was something new,” Anderson said. “Meadows has never done it before, and this guy was coming in and bringing a different life into our theater department. So it was really awesome to get to be a part of that. I had to jump on board immediately.”

According to Anderson, no one knew what would come out of the project.

“We just went in and threw out ideas and we went with the best ideas and that’s what the entire process has been, just going and submitting to the best idea in the room. And I think it’s done well so far,” he said.

He believes that the production ignites something special in everyone.

“It sparks ideas because it’s such a different idea, it’s a different beast. It sparks this world of creativity. It breathes new life into the entire Meadows School of the Arts and possibly even SMU to see that there is something different that can be done through a mixed medium.”

Power believes that students should come see the show not only because it’s unique, but also to support fellow students.

“It’s a great piece. There is nothing like it on SMU’s campus, there is nothing like it in Dallas, there’s nothing like it in Texas, I don’t even know if there’s anything like it in the United States.”