Theatre Bristol proudly presents
Alice
In Wonderland
Adapted by Michele L. Vacca
School Performances: May 5, 6, 7, 12, 13 & 14, 2004 at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. daily
Public Performances: May 8 at 7 p.m. and May 9 at 2:30 p.m.
All performances of Alice in Wonderland are at the Paramount
Center for the Arts.
Alice In Wonderland is sponsored by The Bristol Mall
Alice In Wonderland is produced by special arrangement with
CLASSICS ON STAGE! of Chicago.
Dear Educator:
We are excited that you have chosen Theatre Bristol’s production of Alice In Wonderland as part of your curriculum.
Enclosed are numerous materials to facilitate understanding and initiate responses from your students in relation to the play Alice In Wonderland. The information and activities provided can be used to enhance curriculum standards in many subjects. You know best the needs and abilities of your students. Please feel free to adapt the suggested materials for discussion or activities with your students. You are invited to make copies of the enclosed materials for other teachers as well as your students. We hope you will enjoy Alice In Wonderland.
Thank you for supporting Theatre Bristol.
Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
Charles Dodgson, or "Lewis Carroll" as he was to become
known, was born on January 27, 1832. His family was predominantly
northern English, with Irish connections.
Young Charles was born in the little parsonage of Daresbury in
Cheshire, the oldest boy but already the third child of the four-and-a-half
year marriage. Eight more were to follow and, incredibly for the
time, all of them --- seven girls and four boys -- survived into
adulthood.
Young Charles grew out of infancy into a bright, articulate boy.
In the early years he was educated at home. His "reading
lists" preserved in the family testify to a precocious intellect:
at the age of seven the child was reading The Pilgrim's Progress.
It is often said that he was naturally left-handed and suffered
severe psychological trauma by being forced to counteract this
tendency, but there is no documentary evidence to support this.
His early academic career veered between high octane promise,
and irresistible distraction. Through his own laziness, he failed
to receive an important scholarship, but still his clear brilliance
as a mathematician won him the Christ Church Mathematical Lectureship,
which he continued to hold for the next 26 years.
In 1856 he took up the new art form of photography. He excelled
at it, and it became an expression of his very personal inner
philosophy. He found beauty not simply in the magic of theatre,
but in the poetry of words and in a mathematical formula.
His scholastic career was only a stop-gap to other more exciting
attainments. He was writing -- poetry, short stories, sending
them to various magazines, and already enjoying moderate success.
Between '54 and '56, his work appeared in national publications.
Most of his output was funny, sometimes satirical.
In 1856 he published his first piece of work under the name that
would make him famous. A very predictable little romantic poem
called "Solitude" appeared under the authorship of 'Lewis
Carroll'. In the same year, a new Dean arrived at Christ Church
by the name of Henry Liddell. Liddell brought with him a young
wife and children, all of whom would figure largely in Dodgson's
life over the following years. Dodgson became close friends with
the mother and the children, particularly the three sisters --
Ina, Alice and Edith. In 1862, Dodgson invented the outline of
the story that eventually became his first and largest commercial
success -- the first Alice book. Having told the story and been
begged by Alice Liddell to write it down, Dodgson was evidently
struck by its potential to sell well. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
was published in 1865, under the pen-name Dodgson had first used
some nine years earlier -- Lewis Carroll.
With the launch and immediately phenomenal success of Alice, the
story of the author's life becomes effectively divided in two:
the continuing story of Dodgson's real life and the evolving myth
surrounding "Lewis Carroll." Carroll quickly became
a rich and detailed alter ego. A persona as famous and deeply
embedded in the popular psyche as the story he told.
~from victorianweb.org
Vocabulary
Accusation - a charge of an offense or crime, an implication of
blame.
Adventure - an exciting or dangerous experience.
Bored - tired of having nothing to do.
Contrariwise - from a contrasting point of view, in the opposite
way or reverse order, in a perverse manner.
Cheshire - a county in west-central England
Croquet - An outdoor game in which the players drive wooden balls
through a series of hoops pr arches (called “wickets”)
using long-handled mallets
Dormouse - A small European rodent that lives in trees and feeds
on nuts, acorns, etc.; -- so called because they are usually torpid
(or dormant) in winter.
Imagination - an idea or image created in the mind.
Jury - a group of people sworn to give a true verdict according
to the evidence presented in a court of law
Knave - another word for the jack in a deck of cards; also any
male servant or man of humble birth; a tricky, deceitful fellow
Mad - disordered in intellect, crazy, insane (as used in this
story)
Moral - The lesson contained in or taught by a fable, a story,
or an event
No how - in no way, not at all
Nonsense - words or actions that have no meaning.
Provoking - inciting anger or resentment
Quarrel - an angry dispute, argument, or disagreement
Riddle - a puzzle in the form of a question.
Trial - legal proceedings consisting of the examination of issues
and evidence by a judge and jury to determine a person’s
guilt or innocence.
Verdict - the findings of a jury on issues submitted to it for
decision; can be used in formulating a judgment and/ or sentence.
Witness - a person who testifies in court.
*definitions courtesy of dictionary.com
Websites
Alice in Wonderland- An Interactive Adventure!
Fun activities and games with Alice and her friends for both of
Lewis Carroll’s Alice books.
www.ruthannzaroff.com/wonderland
Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a. k. a. Lewis Carroll, Photographer
In 1949 Helmut Gernsheim made Carroll’s photographic work
known to the general public. Included on this site are his photos
of some of the notable people of his day, including Alice Liddell,
the “real” Alice and the child to whom the story was
initially told and about whom it was written.
catlin.clas.virginia.edu/shadows/carroll/dodgson.html
Lewis Carroll: An Overview
www.victorianweb.org/authors/carroll/carrollov.html
Lewis Carroll : Teacher Resource File
Lewis Carroll biography, criticism, lesson plans...
www.falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/carroll.htm
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - Text by
Lewis Carroll - Illustrations by John Tenniel - Commentary by
Dr. Marc Edmund Jones
www.sabian.org/alice.htm
Pre Show Activities
1. Write the word "Wonderland" on the blackboard in
large letters and ask students if they have ever heard of it.
While some students might be familiar with the title of Lewis
Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, others may have different
associations. Ask students if they think Wonderland is a place
(like, for example, Disneyland). Why does the name of this place
include the word "wonder"? Ask the children to close
their eyes and try to imagine Wonderland. What do they see? To
some students, Wonderland might be a place in their dreams or
imaginations, while others might think of it as similar to an
amusement park. Would they like to visit Wonderland? Why or why
not?
2. Read Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland to your class or have them read it for themselves (for those that teach younger students, there is a version he wrote especially for this age group called The Nursery Alice which can be found online). Discuss the story and what they think of it. Did these things really happen to Alice, or was it a dream? How would they react if some of the things that happened to Alice happened to them? For example, what if they grew to giant size, or shrunk down really, really small? What if a cat started talking to them?
3. Alice in Wonderland is considered a part of the genre of “fantasy.” What is a fantasy? What is a fantasy play or story? Can you name some fantasy plays or stories?
4. One of Lewis Carroll’s more famous poems is “Jabberwocky” from Alice Through the Looking Glass. Taken as written, the poem doesn’t really make sense. Find a way to make it tell a real story by giving definitions to the words (for example- what should “brilling” mean? What is a “tove” and what makes one “slithy”).
5. In this story, Alice falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in a different world. Imagine that something like this happens to you. What sort of world would you go to? How would you get there? Draw a picture or write a story about your adventures in your own Wonderland.
Post Show Activities
1. The Duchess says that “everything’s got a moral,
if only you can find it.” Think of something that happened
to you and what the moral would be in it. Now think of an ordinary
event (brushing your teeth, reading a book, playing a videogame)
and make up a moral to it. This can be a silly or serious as you
want to make it.
2. Imagine that you are a reporter assigned to do an interview with some of the people who live in Wonderland. What do you think you should ask them, and how do you think they would answer? You could also have various students pretend to be the characters on a talk show and answer the questions how they think their character would.
4. Several of the characters in this play have one certain word they repeat over and over again (the Cook’s “pepper”, the Mad Hatter’s “tea time”, etc.) but they use these words to mean many different things. Pick a word and find ways to use that word to mean different things. This can be done by how you say it, how you use it in a sentence, etc.
5. In this story, Alice wanders into a garden where the flowers come to life and talk to her. Pick your favorite flower or plant and imagine it can talk. What sort of personality would it have? What might it say?
Theatre Bristol School of the Arts Summer Theatre Camp 2004
1st thru 3rd grade - June 28th to July 2nd
Broadway Guys & Dolls
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily
Camp culminates with a noontime performance at the Paramount Center
for the Arts.
Cost: $100 per student
4th thru 6th grade - June 28th to July 2nd
Shakespeare Goes Broadway?
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily
Camp culminates with a noontime performance at the Paramount Center
for the Arts.
Cost: $100 per student
7th thru 12th grade - July 5th to July 16th
Break a Leg
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily
Camp culminates with two performances!
Cost: $200 per student