Alice in Wonderland

Note from the Dramaturg “All in the golden afternoon ...” On July 4, 1862, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known to us today as Lewis Carroll, rowed a boat down the Thames with a friend and the three young daughters of the Dean of Christ Church. Lorina, Alice, and Edith Liddell always enjoyed their time with Mr. Dodgson. He would enthrall their imaginations with stories and games. Alice begged Mr. Dodgson to tell them a story on their boat ride. The story told on this particular day was special — an improvised story about a girl named Alice and her adventures underground. Later on, she would ask Mr. Dodgson to write down Alice’s adventures for her. For two and a half years, Mr. Dodgson wrote and illustrated by hand the manuscript for the story that would become Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland . Who could have guessed that a story made up to entertain a ten-year-old girl and her sisters on a boat ride down the Thames would become one of the most beloved children’s stories of all time? Read by millions of adults and children alike, adapted into dozens of different dramatic forms for both film and the stage, and translated into more than eighty languages, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There have made their way into the hearts of readers everywhere. This play, adapted from the Alice books by another Alice — Alice Gerstenberg — was written with the full knowledge that many people loved Lewis Carroll’s famous children’s stories. She sought to “transfer Mr. Carroll” to her play. It is our hope that you experience the imagination and the joy of childhood that Mr. Dodgson intended his story to tell and Alice Gerstenberg wished to preserve. —Nicole Renee Moore, Dramaturg PLAY ON WORDS (a study, discussion, and reference resource) has been prepared by the production dramaturg, Nicole Moore, and is available without charge at the concessions booth in the theatre lobby. Funding for PLAY ON WORDS is provided by Alpha Psi Omega, the Cedarville University chapter of the National Honorary Theatre Society. These extensively researched guides are provided to our audiences in order to increase understanding of each play Cedarville University presents. The guide is an excellent resource for student teachers, language and literature majors, homeschoolers, and all who share our passion for theatre.