RICHMOND – Actor Jayce Nielsen takes center stage – stage right, stage left, upstage and down, and all points in between – in the Central Missouri Repertory Theatre’s free production of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

Nielson performs multiple roles as the author, Carroll; and as story characters – White Rabbit, Caterpillar, Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, a rose-painting gardener, a pigeon and the Queen of Hearts. He does not play Alice.

“Nine characters were too much. Eight is my threshold,” Nielsen says while on stage a few minutes before the show opens May 26.

Nielsen says he wanted to be a lawyer before training as an actor.

“But I figured I’d get bored doing the same thing all the time. With acting, I get to do something different every time,” he says. “Being in a 40-minute show where I’m eight different characters (means) … I’m doing eight different things. It’s a lot more fun for me to not have to stick to the same thing the whole time and being able to jump around.” Nielsen is jo…