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The International School of Hamburg’s theatre department is delighted to invite you to this year’s production, ALICE by Laura Wade, running from February 9 to 12, 2026.
Following the success of last year’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, our students once again take the stage to bring a well-known classic to life—this time through a fresh, contemporary lens.
Co-directed by Sarah Barker-Doherty and Clayton Doherty with Sam Habeck as assistant director, the production brings together students from Grades 6 to 12 in the timeless story that blends humour, imagination, and emotional depth. This inventive retelling of Alice in Wonderland explores themes of resilience, identity, and the winding pathways of growing up.
Supported by designers, choreographers, musicians, and creatives from both the ISH community and Hamburg’s wider arts scene, ALICE promises to be an engaging and memorable experience for audiences of all ages.
We warmly invite you to join us in Wonderland.
Director
Sarah Barker-Doherty
Sarah Baker-Doherty is an accomplished theater director and educator with a career spanning continents and decades. A former child actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sarah has directed professional productions such as Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, and Joseph in locations ranging from Alaska to Singapore. She has served in leadership roles, including Education and Associate Director for Alaska Theatre of Youth and Director of Visual and Performing Arts for Dulwich College International, where she managed arts programs across 13 schools in Asia and partnered with institutions like the Royal Shakespeare Company Education.
Passionate about inspiring young talent, Sarah combines professional expertise with a commitment to education, having worked at leading schools such as King’s High School for Girls, Warwick, and Aiglon College in Switzerland. Many of her students have gone on to successful careers in theater, film, and television, with credits in productions like Game of Thrones and Killing Eve.
Now directing Alice at the International School of Hamburg, Sarah brings her rich professional background to create transformative theater experiences for students.
Co-Director
Clayton Doherty
Clayton Doherty has a past career casting children for TV hits like Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey. Clayton also set up the first virtual reality festival in Switzerland back in 2015 allowing aficionados from all over the world to come together to share their passion.
For this play, Clayton has designed and procured the stage and brought together talents and artists from the local Hamburg community and all parts of the theatre world.
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Assistant Director
Sam Habeck
Sam Habeck is the Assistant Director of this year’s ISH production of ALICE and an IB English A educator at the International School of Hamburg. Originally from the United States, Sam brings nearly a decade of experience as an international educator, six of those years within the International Baccalaureate programme. She supported last year’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and returns this year with a focus on voice, character development, and student confidence on stage.
Sam’s work sits at the intersection of theatre and English Language Arts. Over the course of her career, she has taught English Literature, English Language Arts, English Language Acquisition, Theatre, and Spanish in international schools across Europe and Asia. Her student-centred approach values linguistic diversity and encourages young performers to bring their identities, accents, and perspectives into their work. In rehearsals, she works closely with students in small groups and one to one, coaching articulation, projection, intonation, and physicality to help characters feel grounded and authentic.
Her involvement in theatre began in childhood and has included roles as actor, singer, writer, director, and drama teacher. In previous schools, Sam helped build theatre programmes, led speech and drama teams, and supported student-devised work.
Costumes
Justine Glanfield
Originally from Great Britain, Justine Glanfield is a celebrated designer with a career spanning decades in the fashion industry. She began her journey in the mid-1990s, specializing in knitwear and contributing her talents to prestigious brands such as Burberry and Lacoste. She served until recently as Head of Design and Senior Knitwear Designer at the German fashion label Closed.
In addition to her professional work, Justine maintains an archive of knitwear in her Brussels townhouse, serving as a source of inspiration and a testament to her love for quality craftsmanship. Her passion for sustainability has led her to embrace natural fibers and innovative upcycling practices.
For the International School of Hamburg’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Justine has brought her creative vision and environmental ethos to life by designing all costumes using only reused materials, highlighting the transformative power of eco-conscious artistry.
Choreography
Anastasia Schwarzkopf
‘It is important to me that the students get going and experience movement through space - by running fast, going to the floor, falling, getting up, jumping, turning, losing balance and finding it again - in short, anything that makes your stomach tingle and feels good.’
After completing her studies with a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Stage Dance and Choreography, she created pieces for various festivals and theatres in the Netherlands and Hamburg, one of which was nominated for the 2012 Choreography Award at the ITs Festival Amsterdam. Creative work with children and young people has been important to her from the very beginning. She has been part of the ‘Step by Step’- the Hamburg dance project- team since 2016.
Director: Sarah Barker-Doherty
In her second year at the International School of Hamburg, Sarah Barker-Doherty returns to the ISH stage after last year’s celebrated A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which sparked record interest in this year’s auditions.
“Last year showed our students what they are capable of. This year, they were eager for more.”
Now Head of the Arts Department, Sarah leads the 2026 production of ALICE by Laura Wade—an imaginative retelling chosen for its relevance to the emotional journeys young people face today.
“It’s whimsical and imaginative, yes—but it’s also about mental health, grief, wellbeing, and the messy internal journeys teenagers face. It speaks their language.”
Bringing together students from Grades 6 to 12, Sarah celebrates the strength of an intergenerational cast and the growth that emerges when students learn from one another.
“Theatre becomes a space where everyone grows—in confidence, empathy, and imagination.”
With a professional background that spans the Royal Shakespeare Company, major musical productions across the world, and leadership roles in international arts education, Sarah brings both global expertise and a deep commitment to ISH.
“It’s one thing to teach theatre, but to create art with students under real-world conditions… is transformative.”
She also emphasises how theatre strengthens the ISH community, uniting families, staff, and students through a shared creative journey.
“A play brings families, staff, and students together for months… It’s an experience of a lifetime for our kids.”
As the cast steps into Wonderland, Sarah invites them—and the audience—to view the story as a journey inward.
“Theatre is a journey inward. Wonderland isn’t a place—it’s a part of you.”
Under Sarah's direction, ALICE promises a powerful blend of imagination, emotion, and student artistry, continuing the exciting momentum of ISH’s growing theatre program.
Introducing Assistant Director: Sam Habeck
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Helping students find their voices on stage and in themselves
As Assistant Director of this year’s ISH production of ALICE, Sam Habeck focuses on one of the most personal aspects of theatre: helping students shape how their characters sound, move, and come alive on stage. She supported last year’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and joins the directing team this year from the very first rehearsal.
Sam’s work sits at the intersection of her two areas of expertise—theatre and English language instruction. With years of experience in EAL, multilingual classrooms, and international theatre programs, she understands both the challenges and the richness of producing a play in a school where students speak English with a wide range of accents and levels. “We want students to bring their identities with them on stage. My job is simply to help their words land clearly, what to emphasise, how to project, how to make a line understood no matter the accent.”
Much of her work is one-to-one: clarifying articulation, developing vocal confidence, and shaping intonation. She also coaches physicality—how a character enters a scene, responds, shifts their weight, or finds stillness. These small adjustments often change an entire moment.
Sam has been involved in theatre since childhood. She began backstage, gluing costume pieces together for an Alice in Wonderland production when she was seven, and has since been a student director, actor, singer, writer, and drama teacher. In previous international schools, she built theatre programs from scratch, took students to speech and drama competitions abroad, and encouraged young performers to devise their own work. Her deepest belief is that theatre is a space for identity exploration, bravery, and belonging.
“It’s one of the safest places for teenagers to explore who they are. They can take risks and try on different versions of themselves without fear or judgement.”
During rehearsals, Sam often steps aside with students to work through moments privately, sorting out vocal issues, building confidence, or helping them settle into emotionally tricky roles. In ALICE, where each character has specific scenes and emotional worlds, this tailored support is essential.
Working with Sarah Barker-Doherty and Clayton Doherty, Sam describes the directing process as lively, collaborative, and full of experimentation. Students hear ideas from all three directors and learn to adapt as scenes evolve.
“We lean on the students as much as they lean on us. We couldn’t do this without every single one of our Wonderlanders—whether they have lines or not, they matter.”
After the school play, Sam is planning to run an open-mic series beginning as an after school activity as of February where students can share original writing, music, poetry, or short performances. While this is likely to attract the Alice group, it is designed to nudge the first step of those curious about theatre but not quite ready for a full production.
A quote she often returns to is by writer and activist James Baldwin, from The Fire Next Time (1963): “Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.”
To Sam, this captures what theatre can offer young people: the courage to drop their masks for a moment, step into a role, and find out something true about themselves along the way. Her guidance helps ensure that ALICE is not only a strong performance, but an experience in which students feel seen, supported and free to grow.
Costume Design: Justine Glanfield
For this year’s production of ALICE, Justine Glanfield continues her sustainable approach to costume design. Many elements stem from second-hand finds, recycled materials, and items from the ISH drama cupboard—but each piece has been reworked, stitched, altered, and completely reimagined to fit the world of the play.
“Again for ALICE I have tried to be as sustainable as possible.”
Old curtains and leftover yarn became the hedgehogs. Deadstock fabric was used for the lobsters. The King’s crown started as simple cardboard. But none of it was used “as is.” Every costume has been reshaped, rebuilt, or transformed—an intensive process that required hours of sewing and reinvention.
Justine is clear that this work would not have been possible alone.
“It’s a lot of work for the fabulous volunteers… I don’t want people to think it’s just a case of taking clothes out of the drama cupboard. There is a lot of stitching, altering, and reinventing involved. And I could not have managed it without them.”
The result is a collaborative effort that reflects both creativity and community.
Artistically, the ALICE costumes take inspiration from the surreal tone of Carroll’s original story.
“The costumes are a bit Dalí-esque and nonsensical. I play with proportion and extremities; it’s a bit ridiculous but beautiful at the same time.”
This style gives Wonderland a distinctive look—playful, odd, and visually striking—brought to life through sustainable materials and the hands-on work of a dedicated team.
Justine’s approach builds on the ethos she brought to last year’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where she repurposed and transformed existing pieces. Once again, she shows how imagination and resourcefulness can create something unique.
The costumes for ALICE are the product of creativity, teamwork, and many hours behind the scenes—and they give this year’s production its unmistakable character.
Inside the Cast: Student Voices from ALICE
You can listen to this interview on Kids Gone Global here
A school play may seem like rehearsals and performances but for the students involved in this year’s ISH production of ALICE it's a shared experience that unfolds over months of creativity, commitment, and discovery.
Vilasani and Nayeli, who both appeared in last year’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and chose to return to the stage this year as the Hare and the Mock Turtle characters respectively.
For Vilasani, the time commitment is part of the appeal. “Some people say it takes a lot of your free time, but I actually like spending my free time on this,” she says. “It’s not like school. It’s something you choose to do.” Nayeli agrees, highlighting how the atmosphere shapes the experience. “Everyone who’s in the play wants to be there, and that really makes a difference. It’s intense, but in a good way.”
As rehearsals have progressed, the cast has shifted from working in smaller groups to seeing the full story come together on stage. “Now we can sit in the audience and watch other scenes. That’s when you really see how everything connects,” says Nayeli.
Vilasani describes how surprising that moment was.“When I first read the script, I didn’t realise how everything comes together in a big circle. Seeing it now—it’s really cool.”
Stepping into character has been one of the most rewarding challenges for both students.
“It’s about making it feel real, not just pretending,” explains Nayeli. “You start thinking, ‘How would my character handle this?’” For Vilasani, that work is largely physical:“My character doesn’t speak much, so everything is in the face. I show emotions through expressions—it’s all about that balance.”
Both students also reflect on the strong sense of collaboration that develops over the course of the production.“You’re not being graded. You’re creating something together,” says Nayeli. “When the audience applauds, you think: we did that.”
Vilasani compares it to teamwork in the classroom.
“It’s completely different from group work at school. You invest so much time together, and you really bond through it.”
The themes of ALICE such as growing up, uncertainty, imagination, and finding your way, have resonated strongly with the cast. “The play shows it’s okay not to have everything figured out,” says Nayeli. “It’s about accepting where you are and finding joy anyway.” Vilasani reflects on Alice’s journey. “She limits herself because of guilt, and the play is about learning how to get out of that box.”
Looking back on the experience, both students say the play has helped them learn more about themselves.“I didn’t think of myself as an actress before,” says Nayeli. “Now I’ve discovered a whole new world.”
Vilasani adds:“I’m only 13, and the play helped me realise I’m more than just a student. There’s so much more ahead.”
When asked what they would say to students considering auditioning next year, their advice is honest and encouraging. “Think about it, because it does take time,” says Nayeli. “But you’ll get so much more out of it than you expect.”
Vilasani agrees.“Be ready for your expectations to change. If you enjoy being creative and working with others, it’s really worth it.”
ALICE is a journey through Wonderland. For Vilasani, Nayeli, and the rest of the cast however, it is also a journey of collaboration, growth, and shared achievement, one that continues well beyond the final curtain.
