Instructors Guide for Alice in Wonderland Down the Rabbit Hole (the White Rabbit and Alice) 1
About the Author The Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1831 1898) was a mathematics professor at the Christ Church College of Oxford University in England for about 26 years. He was also an accomplished photographer, and a Church Deacon. Dodgson's pen name, and the name by which you will certainly know him best, was Lewis Carroll. He is best known for his whimsical tales, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. How the Story of Alice Came to Be The Alice in Alice in Wonderland was a real child. Her name was Alice Liddell (Liddell rhymes with riddle). She had two sisters, Lorina and Edith. The three girls were the daughters of the Dean of Christ Church College. On July 4th in 1862, Reverend Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), his friend Robinson Duckworth, and the three young girls boarded a rented rowboat and set out on a lazy 2½-hour trip down a river near the college. Dodgson entertained with a story he created on the spur of the moment for 10 year old Alice. Alice and her sisters were enchanted with the tale, and Alice later pleaded with him to write the story down, which he did, but he did not complete it until the following February. In an article in the New York Times of April 4th 1928, Alice Liddell 2
Hargreaves, then an older woman with children of her own, recalled that, The beginning of Alice was told to me one summer afternoon when the sun was so hot we landed in the meadows down the river, deserting the boat to take refuge in the only bit of shade to be found, which was under a newly made hayrick. Here from all three of us, my sisters and myself, came the old petition, 'Tell us a story' and Mr. Dodgson began it. Sometimes to tease us, Mr. Dodgson would stop and say suddenly, 'That's all till next time.' 'Oh,' we would cry, 'it's not bedtime already!' and he would go on. Another time the story would begin in the boat and Mr. Dodgson would pretend to fall asleep in the middle, to our great dismay." Alice in Wonderland was published in 1866 with wonderful illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. However, the original 1862-1864 manuscript for the story, which was called Alice's Adventures Underground, was personally illustrated by Dodgson. In the drawings, Alice was not the little blonde girl in a pinafore we have come to know from subsequent illustrations and the Walt Disney movie. Instead, she was a winsome, dark haired child patterned after the ten-year-old Alice Liddell for whom the Alice stories had been originally created. When you see Alice in Wonderland at the Puppet Co. Playhouse, look above the stage and you ll see a photograph of Alice taken by Rev. Dodgson, and a self-photograph of Rev. Dodgson (although Alice s sister Lorina claimed to have taken the picture of Dodgson, because she was allowed to click the camera shutter). 3
Before the Show 1. If possible, you and your students should read the book before seeing the show. It can be found online at the Gutenberg Project, http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rgs/alice-table.html. Alice is a long book. Anyone making a play or movie of Alice will make choices as to which of Alice s adventures they will include in their project. They will produce their own version of the story. For instance, in the Walt Disney version, they left out the characters of the Duchess and the Cook and the Mock Turtle and the Griffin. Instead, they used the Garden of Live Flowers and Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, both from Lewis Carroll s second Alice book Through the Looking Glass. In the Puppet Co. version, you ll see many favorite characters (such as the Caterpillar, the Mad Hatter, and the Queen of Hearts), but you ll also see a few unfamiliar scenes, such as Alice s brief encounter with a life-size puppy when she is only three inches tall. You may also notice that some of the nursery rhymes quoted in the story that were familiar to children of the Victorian era, have been replaced with rhymes that your students will certainly know. 2. Explain to your students that much of Alice in Wonderland is simply intended to entertain. It is nonsense and not meant to be understood as reality. For instance, the Queen of Hearts screams off with her head, but everyone knows that no one ever gets beheaded. The Duchess speaks roughly to her baby, but it turns out not to be a baby at all! 3. Explain to your students that they are going to see marionettes (puppets on strings) perform the story. Tell them that the artists performing the puppets are puppeteers. After the Show Talk to your students about nonsense, about what in the story seemed real, and what did not seem real at all. Ask if they found any parts of the story frightening, or too confusing. There have now been over a hundred editions of the book, as well as countless adaptations in other 4
media, especially theatre and film. Ask your students why they think that Alice in Wonderland has been so popular for so many years and for so many generations of children. Theater Etiquette A visit to the Puppet Co. Playhouse may be the very first trip to any theatrical performance for some of your students. We want this to be a happy experience for everyone. Before you enter the theater, our House Manager, the person who is responsible for your safety and comfort during the performance, will welcome you, and will inform you about the seating of you group. At some of the performances, one of the performers will come out to introduce the show and remind everyone about theater manners using this easy to remember poem: Please don t eat, and stay down in you seat. Don t walk about, and don t talk or shout. Don t take pictures or touch the display fixtures, And, if the babies bawl, take them down the hall. Have a great visit to the Puppet Co. Playhouse! The Caucus Race (the Dodo, Alice, and the Mouse) 5