ALICE is Tall, Alice is Small, Alice is ALICE!

And Alice is OPEN! We had a terrific opening weekend with a student matinee on Friday at 10am, followed by an evening performance and two matinee performances on Saturday and Sunday. It was quite a weekend. Congratulations to everyone in the company.

ALICE Company Members Visit SDSU Hidden Mural

 

The company of ALICE was invited to see the Alice mural that was painted in the 1940s in one of the oldest buildings on SDSU's campus that features the characters of Lewis Carroll's books. Until very recently the mural was hidden behind an all-too-familiar industrial shade of eggshell white paint. Through a painstaking process, the conservator was able to remove the white paint and reveal the mural beneath. Because of a water leak, some areas of the mural experienced bubbling (seen as white areas in these photos) but the conservator safely removed those areas and feels confident that they will be able to restore them to their former glory. This mural will be kept in place in a stairwell in Hardy Tower and restored by November of this year. A replica of the mural will be installed on the fourth floor of Love Library to both honor SDSU's history and to highlight the significant collection of children's literature at SDSU.

Dr. Seth Mallios, Chair of Anthropology at SDSU, has been finding and saving pieces of SDSU's history such as this for several years now. He worked with seven different departments and offices on campus to preserve two 1930s era murals that you can see on display in the dome of the Love Library. Dr. Mallios was kind enough to not only allow us to see the mural but to tell us the story of both its painter and the process of how it was discovered and the initial steps of its restoration. When Albert Lewis, the painter of the mural, was told about the uncovering of the mural he reportedly said, "They found my rabbit!" We were also accompanied by the Dean of the Library, Gale Etschmaier. The library has been a strong supporter of these conservation efforts.

 A bit of fun with the Queen of Hearts. "Off with his head!"

Thanks so much to Peggy Ryan for these photos.

SD House Rabbit Society Will Visit Our Wonderland!

Meet some real white rabbits at matinee performances on Saturdays and Sundays during our run. We are delighted to have the House Rabbit Society bringing some of their furriest friends with them to meet the audience after our performances. Don't be late! Meet the rabbits after the show!

Lecture on ALICE's Nonsense on March 4 by Michael Heyman

This post was borrowed from the following: http://sdsuchildlit.blogspot.com/2015/02/michael-heyman-is-visiting-sdsu-come.html

Michael Heyman

Public Lecture

Alice in Wonderland One Hundred Fifty Years Later:
A New Magic Lantern Phantasmämphigory

March 4, 2015

5:00PM- 5:50 (followed by questions and discussion until 6:30PM)

Love Library, SDSU

Leon Williams room (LL 430-431)

The National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, with support from the Instructionally Related Activities fund, the Department of English and Comparative Literature, and the SDSU Library, is happy to announce a lecture by Professor Michael Heyman, noted poet, scholar, and musician. Michael's lecture concerns Lewis Carroll’s Alice and his Alice books—the first of which, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, is celebrating its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary this year!

Professor Heyman is a world-renowned scholar and writer of literary nonsense and children’s literature. He has edited The Tenth Rasa: An Anthology of Indian Nonsense (2007), and his poems and stories for children can be found in The Puffin Book of Bedtime Stories (2005),The Moustache Maharishi and other unlikely stories (2007), and This Book Makes No Sense: Nonsense Poems andWorse (2012), which he also edited.

Of his talk, Heyman writes: “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland lives one hundred fifty years after its publication not because Alice is a princess in a literary fairy tale, not because of our own flirtation with Charles Dodgson and Alice Liddell, and not because Alice has become embedded in our culture as innocent, vixen, or queen of psychedelia; rather, Alice in Wonderland lives because of its uneasy balance of all of these things and more. Its genius lies in what it does more than what itis. And what it does is nonsense. This talk, part magic lantern show and part paean to Lewis Carroll’s nonsense literature, does the unthinkable: it separates analysis from interpretation, it values the cart over the load. It offers the greatness of Alice as a teasing and tempting nonsense process, in its ability, like Humpty Dumpty, always to leave egg on our faces.”

The lecture is open to the public and we encourage students, community members, and faculty to join us!

Filming ALICE in the Garden

Here is a fun photo with our Set Designer, Chad Dellinger, and cast member Belle Adams working on a film that will be featured in our production. The filming took place at the beautiful gardens at the Marston House in Balboa Park. Belle is wearing her costume designed by Emily Smith.

Knighthood and Jousting

         

                                   This post was kindly contributed by cast member Kellen Gold.

The knights in Alice's adventures uphold a long tradition of protection and service to royalty (in this case, the Red King and Queen and then Queen Alice) through the practice of chivalry.  In the Middle Ages, young boys were selected by nobles to be pages and train for knighthood.  The term 'knight' comes from the Old English 'cniht' meaning 'boy' or 'servant,' understood to be linked etymologically with the German 'knecht' meaning 'servant' or 'bondsman'

           Knights as we know them—horse-mounted, armored soldiers—first appeared on the scene in about the eighth and ninth centuries. Jousting was considered one of a medieval knight's many duties.  The first recorded reference to a jousting tournament was in 1066 (coincidentally the same year as the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest of England), and within a century they had become extremely popular.

              Used in the High Middle Ages for battle and then as a sport in Late Middle Ages, and popular with English, German and French royalty well into the 16th century.  In battle, jousting with lances furthered the evolution of armor, as knights switched from chain mail armor to full plated, harnessed suits to protect against the lance.

              Jousting tourneys were highly formal events. Months before a competition, nobles would need to acquire a royal permit,  challenge other lords and select their most skilled knights to compete. In some instances, they would hire a jouster who was not committed to any other master (or liege) and was available to fight for the highest bidder. These temporary employees became known as “freelancers".  Sport jousting died out by the 1600s, but made a significant revival in the 1970s.

Alice Mural Rediscovered in Hardy Tower

Albert J. Lewis-Creator of
Alice in Wonderland mural 

San Diego State University has a very intimate relationship with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that has only recently been rediscovered after almost thirty years. In the already  fantastical stairwell of iconic Hardy Tower, a mural depicting characters from Carroll’s famous work have begun to be restored in an effort to rectify their being painted over in the 1980’s.

Stairwell where mural
was painted over

San Diego State alumnus Albert J. Lewis (’49, ’55), a retired San Diego artist and educator has been identified as the creator of the mural by Lewis’s daughter, Mary Jane Lewis-Conlon. The eighty-eight year old artist was disappointed to learn his work had been painted over, but is thrilled that restoration attempts have begun.

As of just weeks ago, the mural has been deemed “stabilized,” having had the covering paint removed. However, as Dr. Seth Mallios, Chair of the department of Anthropology stated, “there is still a second phase of conservation (for this summer) that will include in-painting and restoring it to its original glory.”  Once it is restored, a replica of the mural will be painted in the Children’s Literature section of the Love Library where it will be unveiled in fall 2015 for the 150^th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

On Thursday, February 26^th, members of the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser cast and crew will have the opportunity to view the mural in the Hardy Tower guided by mural expert Dr. Mallios.

Mural as it looked from its creation in the late 1940's or early 50's until it was painted over in the 80's 

 

Original Illustrations from published books by Sir John Tenniel

This posting was kindly contributed by Projections Designer Sean Murray.

The original illustrations from the published books were created by Sir John Tenniel. You can find all the illustrations for both books at this fan website.

Light Plots for our production

The images included here pertain to the work of ourLighting Designer, Conor Mulligan. These are light plots that show where each of the lights will be placed in the theatre. 

 A view from above.

 Designs for the lights that will be wired into the tree branches featured on the setting.

 A view from the side.

Fashionista ALICE?

This post was kindly contributed by cast member Austin Blake. 

These images appeared in a recent issue of VOGUE magazine. Even 150 years after the first book was published, the iconic images associated with ALICE have a strong impact on many areas of our culture.

Royal Behavior and "Bloody Mary"

This post was kindly contributed by cast member Kirstie Newman. 

Royal Behavior and “Bloody Mary”

Mary I of England was born February 18, 1516, and reigned as Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until November 17, 1558, when she died. She was known best for her Roman Catholic restoration and having over 280 Protestant and religious dissenters burned at the stake, which earned her the loving nickname of “Bloody Mary.” AND THIS WAS ALL ONLY IN A 5 YEAR REIGN. It should be noted that she was the only child of King Henry and Catherine of Aragon to survive infancy. Her mother had countless miscarriages, 4 stillborn daughters and 3 stillborn sons, which adds a spooky layer of drama. Maybe Queen Mary was the ONLY child and sabotaged others in the womb! (Note: not factual, just speculation and imagination.)

Mary I of England

Royal behavior, as a topic, is a bit broad, and attempting to research in this area yielded mostly results of how one is to act while in the presence of royals. I did, however learn about the ruthlessness of Queen Mary I and the incest that is ever-present in most royal bloodlines, which was fascinating. For reasons of diplomacy and “keeping the bloodline clean,” many royal families intermarried, resulting in deformities from inbreeding. The most notable cases are “The Habsburg Jaw” from King Charles II of Spain, and the long line of hemophilia beginning with England’s Queen Victoria. 

King Charles II of Spain

"Secret World of Lewis Carroll" Documentary on BBC

Cast member Austin Book sent the following helpful link to an article about a BBC documentary:

"Alice is always with us; the most quoted work of literature, after the Bible and Shakespeare." Thus begins an article about a new BBC documentary on Lewis Carroll.

Read an article about the documentary:
http://www.theartsdesk.com/tv/secret-world-lewis-carroll-bbc-two

Watch a three-minute clip, and if you have the BBC player, watch the one-hour documentary:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b051wml4

Alice through the Age—A Taste of Carroll's Influence in 150 years

"Feeding the Rabbits" or "Alice in Wonderland"-Fredrick Morgan (1956-1927)

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass helped changed the face of children’s literature and have made a permanent shift in the ways in which children’s stories can be told. Not only do the stories themselves survive, but their themes and characters survive in the many adaptations and inspirations of the story that have been utilized in the nearly 150 year since the stories were penned. Since the time of the stories publication,

 33 re-tellings and sequels have been listed as being published.

17 various film adaptation expressly drawing from the Wonderland material have been produced

6 stage adaptations, (including out own) have been listed.

This list does not and cannot include the numerous stories, manga, television episodes, movies, and plays that have been written using this story as material without expressly giving credit to the original story. 

1935-All Saint's Church, Daresbury Stained-Glass Windows 

1937-Betty in Blunderland

1951-Alice in Wonderland 

1997-Alice in Wonderland, a Musical Adventure in One Act 

2013- Once Upon a Time in Neverland 

Portals/Rabbit Hole

A portal in science fiction and fantasy is a technological or magical doorway that connects two distant locations separated by space-time. It usually consists of two or more gateways, with an object entering one gateway leaving via the other instantaneously.

Portals can link the character with other places or worlds like the Wood between the Worlds in his Chronicles of Narnia, or even to different times or existences such as the past, or heaven/hell.

The Rabbit Hole is seen as a specific form of this greater portal image, which specifically refers to a metaphor for an entry into the unknown, the disorientating or the mentally deranging. It has been used by psychotropic drug users to describe the experience of hallucination causes by its use.

Picture Credit:

www.astonrep.com

www.deviantart.com

Alice in Wonderland Syndrome

The prominence of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland can be felt even within the medical community, with a unique syndrome names for the title character. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS), first names in 1955 by Dr. John Todd, is a series of symptoms based in space and object perception. Object appear distorted, sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller, than they really are. Some suffers also find that it affects the the perception of their own bodies in relation to the environatment around them or even the perceived passage of time. AIWS can be caused by abnormal amounts of electrical activity causing abnormal blood flow in the parts of the brain that process visual perception and texture. The syndrome is most often linked to migraines, brain tumors, and the onset of certain viruses. The hallucinations can occur several times a day, and it is speculated that Lewis Carroll’s well-documented migraines that presented with Lilliputian hallucinations* could have been inspiration for the size distortion scenes in the books.

* Lilliputian hallucination in which things, people, or animals seem smaller than they would be in real life. Lilliputian refers to the "little people" who lived (fictionally) on the island of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift's 1726 masterpiece Gulliver's Travels.

Photo 1 credit: www.aiws.info

Photo 2 credit: www.yurtopic.com

Set Design: The White Model

Our set designer, Chad Dellinger, created a White Model of the set as a first step toward getting a sense of what the setting would be like in three dimensions...

The White Model from above.

The White Model from the audience's perspective.

Set Design Inspiration!

Below are images that our set designer, Chad Dellinger, consulted as he designed our unique set.

Parlour/Party Games in Victorian England

This post was kindly contributed by cast member Megan Duncan.

Victorian Parlour Games

In the 19th century, people had more leisure time than in previous generations. Parlour games became popular amongst the upper and middle class. These games were played in parlours with small groups and appropriately named "Parlour games." Games involved mostly logic or word-play and were created to amuse gentleman and ladies at small parties. They were especially played during Christmas and advertisements were made. The tradition became just as popular as the Mass Media of the time. Games usually have no set time allotment and end when players are ready to move on. Most games are competitive but don't have a cumulative score. Some games still exist today such as Charades and others have been modified and turned into board games such as Balderdash. Some popular games of the time include:
—The Laughing Game
—Animals
—The Ministers Cat

You can find more games and read the rules on this site: http://www.funjoint.com/parlour.htm

More on High Tea and Afternoon Tea

This post was kindly contributed by cast member Priscilla Mellado.

Afternoon Tea

English High Tea and Afternoon Tea are almost the same thing. It started out as Afternoon Tea with the British Upper Class but as time went on the working class changed it to High Tea. It is rumored to have gotten that name because of the high table it is served on whereas Afternoon Tea is not served in that way. The main difference between High Tea and Afternoon Tea is what is served. Afternoon Tea consists of finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, and cakes, all accompanied by hot tea. High Tea is more like supper and has hot savory dishes, it is more like a full meal with tea. The only difference is what is served because other than that it is served at the same time from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

For more information on Teas, please see:
http://www.afternoontea.co.uk/information/what-is-high-tea/
http://www.afternoontea.co.uk/information/what-is-afternoon-tea/
http://www.smittenbybritain.com/the-difference-between-afternoon-tea-high-tea-cream-tea-and-elevenses/

White Queen and Miss Havisham

This post was contributed by cast member Katie Rich.

Miss Havisham is a reclusive spinster in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations. Her beloved conned, defrauded, and left her at the altar years before the story begins and so she lives the rest of her days in her wedding dress, with the clocks in her house perpetually set to the time at which she learned of her fiancee’s betrayal, and with her wedding breakfast and wedding cake sitting on her table in her decrepit mansion. Eventually she tires of a life of solitude and gets her lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, to adopt her a daughter. This young girl, Estella, is trained by Miss Havisham to disdain men and hurt them whenever possible. Estella does what Miss Havisham never could. Estella eventually gets Pip (the novel’s protagonist) to fall in love with her, she leaves for school, she marries Pip’s rival, Miss Havisham repents to Pip, her wedding dress catches on fire and she dies.

NOW, in terms of Alice: Elements of this story fit nicely within the Through the Looking-Glass. Estella is Miss Havisham’s pawn in that she gets Estella to do what she never could. Alice (nee Lily) is the White Queen’s pawn in a literal sense. It brings about this idea that the madness of Miss Havisham is present within the White Queen, as the queen gets Alice to do what she cannot…

It’s not the strongest analogy but it makes sense in a way…just a little bit of nonsense.

Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham in the 2012 version of Great Expectations.

Chess, Queens and Pawns

This post was kindly contributed by cast member Katie Rich.

"Pawn takes Queen"

One of the things I found most interesting in terms of chess and the story of the show was the concept of “promotion” in Chess. Promotion occurs when a pawn reaches the opposite end of the board from where it began. At this point, the pawn may become any other piece on the board. (Many people think that the pawn can only become one of the pieces that has been captured by the opponent, but that is false. It may become any piece.) The most common promotion is for a pawn to become a queen.

In Through the Looking-Glass, the White Queen first appears to Alice as a chess piece in a drawing room, looking for her daughter Lily. If we think in terms of chess, if the White Queen is a queen, then Lily (as her child who could grow into what the White Queen is, as so many children often do) could be seen as a pawn. And with Lily being ever-elusive in the text, the idea of Alice filling that role in the White Queen’s life comes into play.  This is solidified when we see Alice become queen at the end of the play. What was she before? Not a queen…what becomes a queen? A pawn. What was Alice? A pawn.

Briefly: White Queen mom to Lily (pawn) = Alice (pawn) = grows to queen in terms of text and chess

Nonsense language, post 1 (Why is a raven like a writing desk?)

This post was contributed by cast member Kelli Plaisted.

“The nonsense genre involves playing with words and rhyme, writing riddles with no answers, and composing limericks that make no sense.  Although English nonsense verse was first invented in 1611, its use dwindled until its revival in the nineteenth century by authors such as Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. Lear primarily wrote absurd limericks intended for children, though many might also contain political commentary. In this era of word games, Lear's nonsensical use of words and rhyme to create not only limericks but near-gibberish stories illustrates the movement towards using this genre, a kind of fantasy, as a harmless escape from life while still tackling larger issues. Lewis Carroll, another master of nonsense verse writing around the same time, brilliantly delivers a critique of the English school system with his character Alice as she constantly misapplies her rote-learned classroom teachings.” 

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/carroll/kwoka8.html

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

“Technically this riddle has many answers. People have had a lot of time to think up something clever. A satisfying answer is, "Poe wrote on both," given by puzzle enthusiast Sam Lloyd. More in the spirit of the nonsense genre, Aldous Huxley ventured, "Because there is a 'b' in both and an 'n' in neither." Beautifully bizarre.  The unanswerable riddle has been answered, though.  Lewis Carroll said that, in the original book, there was no answer but to end the pain of ceaseless inquisitive fan letters, though, he went ahead and thought up an adequate response that he put in preface to later editions. Carroll's answer to “Why a raven is like a writing desk? "Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front!" Carroll spelled 'never,' as 'nevar' — 'raven' spelled backwards — but a proofreader erased the inverted pun before it was published.”

http://io9.com/5872014/the-answer-to-the-most-famous-unanswerable-fantasy-riddle

Mathematics!

This post was kindly contributed by cast member Kelli Plaisted.

“Mathematics may be defined as: the study of relationships among quantities, magnitudes and properties; the study of quantity, structure, space and change; some have seen it in terms as simple as a search for patterns.” 

 http://www.storyofmathematics.com/

Alice says, "Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is—oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!"

Alice is correct. 4 x 5=12... when expressed in base 18. Bases are different standards by which numbers are measured. We count in base 10, computers count in base 2 (a.k.a. binary)… So anyway, following this pattern...

4 x 5=12 (base 18)

4 x 6=13 (base 21)

4 x 7=14 (base 24)

4 x 8=15 (base 27)

4 x 9=16 (base 30)

4 x 10=17 (base 33)

4 x 11=18 (base 36)

4 x 12=19 (base 39)

4 x 13=1A (base 42) (or about 32 (base 10) short of 20). 

The equation falls apart here. Alice will indeed never get to 20 at this rate. :)

http://www.eeggs.com/items/20350.html

Alice in the Real World

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass have delighted children for 150 years. The nonsense adventures and vivid imagery have also caught the imagination of many adults. Countless artists, musicians, writers, and others have been inspired by Lewis Carroll's stories. Below are some examples of the Alice-inspired work from various creative minds.

From classical orchestration to classic rock, musicians around the world have been inspired by Alice. Here is just a sampling:

1. Alice in Wonderland- Neil Sedaka- 1963
2. Sunshine- Aerosmith- 2001
3. White Rabbit- Jefferson Airplane- 1967
4. Through the Looking Glass- Deems Taylor- 1918
5. Three Choruses from Alice- Irving Fine- 1942

Salvador Dali created 12 works inspired by Alice.

Australian artist Charles Blackman first became acquainted with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  after listening to an audio book. He was inspired to create a series of 46 pieces. Here is a select few: