The Blog of the LCSNA
Alice Liddell has made the front page of the New York Times again! This time, it’s an image of Alice as the mythical figure “Pomona,” as photographed by Lewis Carroll’s contemporary, Julia Margaret Cameron. The Metropolitan Museum in NYC has opened a new exhibit of 38 Cameron images. The exhibit runs through January 5th, 2014. To read more, click me.
This just in from one of our well-traveled mimsy minions:
Netherlands literary critic Carel Peeters has written, in Dutch of course, a fine series of essays, Het wonderland van Lewis Carroll, dealing with “seventeen sides of Carroll’s personality in his life and work.” You can find out more at:
http://www.deharmonie.nl/uitgave/uitgavedetail.asp?id=1203
And you can order a copy from info@deharmonie.nl.
Attention, New York area theatre and Carroll lovers! The widely praised immersive theatrical dance experience Then She Fell, presented by Third Rail Projects, has now extended its run in Brooklyn through October 27th. Characters for this surreal adventure set in a hospital ward include Alice and also Lewis Carroll, and their relationship is the focus of the piece. If you want to attend, be sure to buy your tickets in advance: only 15 audience members are allowed at each performance! If you loved Sleep No More (a brilliant “don’t miss” mash-up of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the classic book/film Rebecca), then here’s an equally-well-reviewed piece with a Carrollian theme. Then She Fell plays Tuesdays-Sundays at 7:30pm and 10:30pm, and runs two hours. If you have already seen the production, please leave us a comment to let us all know what you thought!
To read more about the Then She Fell, click me.
And here is a video about the creation of the piece, from Brooklyn Independent Television:
What if a series of puzzling crimes was being committed in Victorian London, and the only man to solve the mystery was Sherlock Holmes? What, then, if he had to travel through the looking-glass, where logic doesn’t exist, to do it? That’s the intriguing premise of the new play Sherlock Through the Looking-Glass by the ambitious California theatre troupe known as the Porters of Hellsgate. The show opens on August 16, 2013 for a six week run. And admit it: the poster art is pretty cool. To read more, click me.
One of our Mimsy Minions alerted us to this item: composer Will Todd (who wrote the Queen’s Jubilee anthem, among other things) has composed a family-oriented opera inspired by Alice’s adventures. He notes that it’s not a literal adaptation, more like a single adventure with Alice and some of the familiar characters.
The opera premiered this July in Holland Park, so we will have to see if more productions follow! To read more about the piece, click me.
UPDATE 8/16:
And here’s a review of the production in London’s Holland Park.
We mentioned this book’s Facebook page in a prior post, but here is more information on Alice’s Bloody Adventures in Wonderland, courtesy of one of our Mimsy Minions:
A “demented modern interpretation” of Wonderland, with text by Raul Alberto Contreras and illustrations by Los Angeles-based street artist Tweedle Guns, is upon us. “The White Rabbit has brutally slaughtered Alice’s sister and cat, sending her on a vengeance quest down the rabbit hole, where she finds herself in a series of physical and mental traps, driving her into the heart of darkness that lies deep within Wonderland.” You can order it online here, or if you’re planning to attend our Los Angeles gathering in November you can buy a signed copy from the author there.
Here’s something you don’t see every day: a tattoo depicting Alice reaching for a book from an enormous stack of books. The visual pun here: the stack of book spines traces the actual spine of the tattoo wearer. Very clever! But talk about suffering for your art. To view the tattoo (it’s on a young woman’s back), click me.
Yes, you read that correctly. A free pattern for knitting yourself some hedgehogs. Just in case you were looking for one. Maybe you’re planning to crochet yourself a croquet set, too. If so, these cute little hedgehogs will fit right in to your set. The Mimsy Minion who submitted this item suggested making a bunch of them to decorate a holiday tree. To see the little critters and obtain the free pattern, click me. The page also has a link to another pattern that may be of interest for you “knit wits!” 😉
If you’re into rock and perhaps a touch of goth, you might enjoy this video from a band known as Breaking Benjamin, for their song Evil Angel. The visuals are a mash-up of Wonderland characters with your typical “death and destruction and insanity” images, with a few other wild cards (including a recurring character resembling Punch). Be advised that there is some animated gore, so it may not be for the illustratively faint at heart. But don’t worry–it turns out it was all a dream. Or was it…?
As you may have noted by reading some of our prior blog posts, a number of our LCSNA members are authors. Member Deborah J. Lightfoot writes to tell us that her Waterspell fantasy trilogy has distinct Carollian elements–including clever use of a copy of Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There within the storyline.
If you’re a fan of fantasy fiction, you might want to check out this series, which is now also available in eBook format. Her site also include a blog detailing how she want about writing and then publishing the series. To learn more, click me.
