Penelope Hare and Tobias Devereux pictured at an Otago Mixed Clubs Ball. They both graduate on 10 December, mid-way through their production 'Alice in Wonderland – A Pantomime'.
Graduation won’t be the only stage close friends Penelope Hare and Tobias Devereux share this December.
The pair graduate on 10 December, Penelope with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English with a minor in French and Tobias with Honours in Mathematics.
The duo will also be mid-way through the Globe Theatre production of Alice in Wonderland - A Pantomime, running 4 to 14 December. Penelope is the Director and Tobias is the Musical Director.
This will be Penelope’s first time directing a theatre production – a big undertaking with 31 cast members – which she is greatly enjoying.
“The madness of Alice in Wonderland and the madness of pantomime couple really well and the story is really strong,” Penelope says.
The pair have collaborated on 13 original songs for the production. Tobias has composed the music, and Penelope has written the lyrics.
“Every time I hear the production, I tell Tobias I have a different favourite song,” says Penelope.
The Globe is where she and Tobias met and struck up a firm friendship. Penelope has been involved in the Globe since working there during a gap year after secondary school, playing the titular character in previous pantomimes Peter Pan and Robin Hood.
Penelope says taking the gap year after secondary school at Columba College in Dunedin was a great decision for her.
“I’ve always put my academic studies very high on my priority list, and so I thought a break would be beneficial for my maturity and to pursue other avenues.
“Some people don’t want to lose their motivation, and I completely understand that, but that was never going to be an issue for me as I love learning. Taking a moment meant I felt galvanised when I returned to study. It’s nice to try different things.”
After this year of exploration, including theatre with The Globe and a trip to visit family in the United Kingdom, Penelope enrolled at Otago.
She lived at home during her studies and says her mother, father and two siblings have been amazing.
“They are really interested and supportive of my studies; academically and emotionally they give me so much support.”
A production photo of 'Alice in Wonderland- A Pantomime'. “The madness of Alice in Wonderland and the madness of pantomime couple really well and the story is really strong,” Penelope says. Photo: Don Townsend
Penelope has found her major in English hugely enriching.
“I love stories. I love telling stories and analysing stories, thinking about what makes a good story good and – even more fun – what makes a bad story bad.”
“Being able to think about texts critically and take them apart is not just important in that discipline but right through life as well, so I enjoy it.”
This year, she took a 300 level paper in Victorian Literature (ENGL313) taught by Associate Professor Grace Moore.
With work on the pantomime well underway, she was delighted to discover Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll were course texts.
Penelope says that, while it’s very different directing a family pantomime and academically studying the work, they have informed each other.
“I loved the books as a child. I think people enjoyed it in the Victorian period because it was more tough minded than the sappy sentimental children’s literature that was usually peddled at the time. It’s a bit more cynical in a fun way that children can easily access.
“I like that Alice is quite bewildered and isn’t the sweet child we might expect, she is quite rude and brash. I think that speaks to the child’s experience in an adult world where rules don’t really make sense, but they can’t really do anything about it.”
The pantomime script Penelope and Tobias selected is written by renowned UK playwright Ben Crocker. Penelope says the script is so strong because it isn’t just taken from the Disney movie, as most people do, but from the text and adapted for pantomime.
“The book texts are picaresque – that means a series of incidents not necessarily connected by a Freytag’s triangle, with a climax and plot, and for a show you need the story arc. Ben’s done a good job of creating this and it still has a fun odd feel about it.”
Most pantomimes take pop songs and alter the lyrics, and The Globe has previously commissioned a UK songwriter to provide them, so this pair’s development of original songs make it a very special production.
Penelope says, while it is very child friendly, the show has something for everyone of any age.
There will be the familiar characters people love – the Mad Hatter, Red Queen, Cheshire Cat and more.
While what’s next is still up-in-the-air for Penelope, her big dream is to be a playwright, and she is considering heading overseas for further study in this area.
She and Tobias also took French language papers together at Otago, and the French influence is apparent in Penelope’s first play Pas de Trois, which debuted this year at the University’s Allen Hall Theatre.
“It’s fun, I love it. It is a lot of work, but I take it on because it’s what I really want to do,” Penelope says.
Read more and book tickets for Alice in Wonderland – A Pantomime 4 to 14 December 2025.
-Nā Antonia Wallace, Kaiarataki Pārokoroko – Communications Advisor
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