Week Eleven

Monday 30th November
Today we had our double lesson but we also rehearsed for an hour after school. This was really useful as it allowed us to continue practising while we were still fully focused. We had Jake in the lesson, which allowed us to work out the lightning. In our double lesson, we ran through the play once to work out the lightning but also to perfect any bits that needed tweaking. Firstly in our distorted scene that is shown to represent Alice falling down the rabbit hole, the ending where I fall onto Jack and Emily we decided needed changing as it was awkward and looked messy. Instead of them creating a barrier for me to fall on, they push my back up and then the second time they push me back up while Katie and Morgan push me down. We also decided that the transitions between scenes needed cleaning up and also they need to be quicker. In between the interview scene and the first flashback scene, music was played where in this order: Katie, Emily, Me, Morgan and Jack walk on and hold three still images taht represent our character in this scene. It was funny as we all felt like we were on a catwalk but it worked really well because it showed a different side to the piece and also set the tone for the party. Our main final change came right at the end when instead of ending with Alice lying dead on the floor with the other characters surrounding her, Alice still lies dead on the floor but the other characters walk around her each taking turn in saying there motive. People say things like, "you cant treat people like this,","i loved you," etc. Using the circle of tension, made it look effective but it also created the feeling of suspicion for the audience as they have no idea who has actually killed Alice. The purpose of our after school rehearsal was to make sure we practised and practised so the piece was the best it could possibly be. The rehearsal went well and we are all excited to perform it on Wednesday.


Wednesday 2nd December
Today was the day of our final performance and it went really well. We had a run through first in all our costumes and it didn't get off the best start. During our distorted scene, when it came to the final part of the scene, someone accidentally let go of me and I tripped and bashed my head on the floor. Then when we tried it again, the lift didn't go to plan as they didn't have a firm grip while holding me. However apart from this, the final dress rehearsal went really. Then it was time to do our performance and it went ten times better than we ever imagined it to go. Everyone remembered their lines, it had much more pace and tension than when we had done it before. Thankfully the distorted scene went really as well. It was the first time we had performed it to an audience when we were in costume and they really enjoyed it and all told us how good it was. I overheard the audience discussing who they thought had killed Alice which really pleased me as this is what we hoped would happen. After watching it back in our lesson, the main things we pciekd up on that could have been improved was that the sometimes we spoke to quickly and it was hard to understand what we were saying and also the transistions could have been quicker and smoother. Another thing we noticed was that the pace was much better than it had been.

Overall, our devised piece went really well and it was so good to see all the hard work we had put in pay off. We made clear links to our stimulus, 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,' and personally I think we managed to produce a really good modern version of the piece.

Alice drinking a potion after falling down the hole

Week Ten

Monday 23rd November
In today's lesson, it appeared we hadn't really progressed much but we actually had. We went through from the very start and worked out what parts needed to be worked. We were also able to correct small details that needed to be changed because they didn't quite fit. For example, Micheal says he went to a mates party but then when he was talking they had never actually met. It was only small details like these that needed changing but it made everything correct so that if the audience did recognise it then it would help with the clarity of the plot. As we went through it, we realised how many links to Alice in Wonderland we had actually put in. For example, at the party when they are getting intoxicated, life suddenly becomes disjointed much like how Wonderland appears to Alice.

Wednesday 25th November
In today's lesson, we were very limited as to what we could do as both Morgan and Jack were away, which left just myself, Katie and Emily. So as much as we had of the script, we went through it to see if there was any details we could add or adapt any mistakes in there. We then discussed different things we could wear that would match what our character says and acts like. I have a blue daisy dress that I am going to wear because we feel it would reflect the character of Alice but also links to what Alice wears in adaptations of the original story because from our research we found out that in many of the adaptations Alice wears ablue dress

Friday 27th November

Before school, I went to the Drama room to record the voice over for the police station. We recorded it using a Dictaphone because we thought it would be more professional and if I was stood on the side saying the lines then we thought it would distract the audience. Then during our after school rehearsal, we had some friends to come and watch so we could get an opinion from them. It went really well and we ran through from start to finish very successfully and our audience really enjoyed it, which was a real morale booster. In our last rehearsals before our performance, we will make sure we run through from the very start so we know what we are doing and also to improve the pace of our performance. 

At the Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Week Nine

Monday 16th November 
In our double lesson, first of all we finished the final scene, which is where the suspects learn what has happened. We ask more questions so we learn what happened after the second flashback ended and then the final line reveals what Alice. The line is, "A body has been found in a ditch near to where the party was held. We believe it to be Alice's body. So Charlie Doorm, Jason Hatton, Elizabeth Hart, Michael White we are detaining you for further questioning regarding the death of Alice Kingsley." This relates to our stimulus as Alice falls down a hole to get to Wonderland which in this case is ditch. Also we chose the surname of Alice to be Kinglsey because this is what it is in other adaptations.
After we had finished the final scene, we decided it would be a good idea to have a full run through from start it finish and record it so we can see what it looked like. It went surprisingly well but we found some things that need to be improved. In the first scene, my fall didn't go as good as it had before because I couldn't get my feet to slip so it looked messy. The lift went well because I tensed my arms and body so it was easier for Morgan and Katie. I was embarrassed by my face in the performance because I looked gormless when I was meant to be looking scared, so I need to improve on my facial expressions through out the piece. The second scene ran really smoothly with the only down side being Katie stood up to soon. The third scene had good facial expressions and voice clarity. Something I noticed was that I fiddled with my hair too much so I need to use gestures appropriate to my character. We all noticed that it was quite funny in places without it intending to be. For example:

Elizabeth: Are you stupid?

Charlie: What do you mean?

Elizabeth: I mean. Are you a stupid?

I like this part as it adds humour to the piece. Scene 4 ran smoothly but the major issue came in Scene  5. It had a huge pause, due to forgotten lines which meant it broke the tension. However when I laugh at Michael and yell at him, my facial expressions and voice matches with the mood of my character. We noticed that for some of it Michael stood around like a spare part, so we need to either give him my lines or get him to do something else. The final scene went well and looked excellent. A major issue we all noticed was that the pace was slow so we need to speed it up. 

Wednesday 18th November 
In this lesson, we sat down and thought that maybe we could add something onto the end to build up the tension. After the final line, we thought it was a good idea to have a silence and then all the characters shouting that the didn't do it and blaming it on other people which gradually got quieter. This worked well but we wanted to go and try different ways in which we could do it. The idea we eventually went with was Charlie starts off then Jason joins in, then Elizabeth and then finally Michael and it gets louder. We chose this one because we thought that it sounded more effective and would create suspicion in the audience's mind. Then there will be a blackout and then it the lights will come on to reveal Alice lying on the floor dead and the others surrounding her, like the first scene.

Thursday 19th November
We rehearsed after school today and after we had taught Jack the final part we had added yesterday, we had a run through and showed it to some people so we can see what other people think of it. It probably went the worst we had done it, which was a shame because it was our first time showing other people. Although we made some mistakes, it turned out to be good as it allowed us to see what parts need changing and what they liked as a audience.

Alice looking down the Rabbit Hole

 

Week Eight

Monday 9th November
In our lesson today, we had a run through of the scenes we had created so far. This was helpful as it allowed us to see what needed improving and what went well. It was also very useful because it allowed Jake to come up with ideas on what the lighting would be like and then he was able to tell his ideas to us. It was helpful as it allowed us to see how we could create added tension and the best ways in which the audience would enjoy it. The lightining would be dark when we learn what has happened to Alice and during the first scene and then when they are ebing interview the lighting will be bright. We then continued working on the second flashback when the characters confront Alice. When Michael, Jason, Elizabeth and Charlie are talking about Alice, one of them calls her a bitch. With our target audience being 12 year old, we think that this is a suitable word to use. They will have heard it before and have most likely said it themselves, so they will be familiar with what it means. We didn't just us the word bitch in there for any particular reason we all agreed it was suitable word in describing Alice's character and is word people would use in that situation. In our next rehearsal which will be after school, we will continue to work on this scene and develop it further and then work out how to show what happened to Alice.

Alice playing croquet

Week Seven

Monday 2nd November
Firstly in our lesson today, we started off with the opening scene. We thought that because it was a formal interview that the characters needed surnames. To keep with our stimulus, we thought that the characters surname should be linked to the part they represent. We also decided that the character of Charlie should be more like the Dormouse instead of the Cheshire Cat because of the way she acts. Without purposely looking we found that the way Emily played the character, made her appear timid and shy like the doormouse and not smiley and brash like the Cheshire Cat. The names are: Elizabeth Heart, Charlie Doorm, Jason Hatton and Michael White. We then had a run through of this scene and the first flashback. We thought that while the characters weren't talking they needed to be frozen so it wouldn't distract the audience.
We all agreed that our distortion scene needed work and had to be changed because we didn't really like the way it was. We felt it didn't look distorted enough and it needed to be more distorted.It looked very mis-matched and under rehearse and didnt create the tension and suspense we wanted it to. Instead of going straight in with the music, we started a fresh with no music. The first bit we changed was the very start, which was done in slow motion. Instead we tried it doing tableauxs (still images) which were held for a count of four. As Alice isn't involved in this part, I watched the others and gave them feedback on how it looked. When Emily and Morgan push me forward, they did it more forcefully, so it represented Alice falling down the rabbit hole.  We felt that in our original idea that Emily and Jack were stood there doing nothing so when it came to pushing me everywhere, we involved all of them so it will show from early on that everyone has a reason to dislike Alice.  Then instead of being pulled back by Emily which felt awkward I am now pulled all over the place by all of them which gradually moved backwards. We kept the lift the same and when I landed, Emily and Jack held there hands together and I was lowered on to them and then back up and then lowered again before being bought up and pushed down.  As we were practising it again, by accident my feet slipped and I fell down. We all started laughing once they knew I was all right and then we looked at Miss, who said how good it actually looked. So we decided to keep it as I could make myself do it again. We practised with music and then we recorded it and watched it back. We all agreed that it looked so much more effective and more distorted than  the original idea.
We then began to work on the second interview scene and we came up with the questions that needed to be asked and how the characters would respond to them. After a while of practising and coming up with ideas, we voice recorded it on my phone so I could type it for the following lesson.

The script:
Police Officer: Alice has been reported missing.
All: Missing?
Elizabeth: It doesn’t surprise me.
Jason: She’s probably in her bedroom, waiting to be found. She likes attention that Alice does.
Michael: Missing? What do you mean missing? Her parents are gonna kill me.
Charlie: Missing? Are you sure? It doesn’t sound like Alice at all.
Police Officer: What was the true nature of your relationship with Alice?
Michael: Erm, just a friend. Er, that’s it, just a friend.
Jason: Well, I’d say we were friends but I don’t know about that.
Police Officer: Did you want you and Alice to be more than friends?
Michael: Well. Er, no.
Jason: No. Really no, no. That’s a no go.
Police Officer: A witness is willing to say the opposite of your previous statement. Is there anything you wish to say?
Michael: Er, well, she was just a family friend. That was it, just didn’t want her to be anything more.
Police Officer: Witnesses at the party say that you had an argument with her, Charlie.
Charlie: Well I did.
Police Officer: Well why did you lie about it in your previous statement?
Charlie: I didn’t lie. I just hadn’t got to that bit yet.
Police Officer: Was it because if you did you’d give yourself away?
Charlie: Give myself away to what. You’re not suggesting that I did something to Alice.
Police Officer: You don’t seem that bothered by her disappearance, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth: Huh, why would I? I want nothing to do with her.
Police Officer: Did you confront her at the party?

Wednesday 4th November
As I had typed the script up, the first thing we did in lesson was have a run through of this scene. After we had done this, we began working on the second flashback which is set straight after the first flashback has ended. While I was standing there, all the other characters would stood talking about how much they hate Alice while Michael was trying to be a peacemaker. Charlie and Jason are trying to persuade Elizabeth to go and argue with Alice but doesn't go until she learns Alice called her a stuck up cow. Then when Elizabeth does go followed by the others, she and Alice argue and then Elizabeth shouts that no one would care if Alice was dead. This is when Michael steps in and it is revealed that he is in love with Alice.
This was all we managed to get finished in the hour. Next time, we need to further develop it to give Elizabeth more of a reason to want to go over to Alice becasue we dont thinks she has a good enough motive to kill Alice or enough anger to go over and talk to her in the first place. Also we need to finish the scene and to the final part where everyone learns what happens to Alice.

Alice on a tree while listening to her sister

Week Six

Monday 19th October

In today's lesson, we continued to work on the first flashback where Alice arrives at the party. To make it feel more like a party we put some 'rave' music on that you would hear in a club or a party. This really helped as it allowed us to loosen up and the dancing didn't look awkward like it did before. It would also show the audience that the people are at a genuine party as it didn't look like a party before. We had to adjust the sound so that we could hear ourselves talk. The flashback scene went well as everything went the same as we had already done. We then worked on the second interview scene where the characters learn that Alice has gone listening. The sort of questions were 'What do you think happened to Alice?" "What did you say to Alice?" etc. We then refreshed our memories over the distorted opening scene. We decided to swap Jack and Emily's role when it comes to the lift as we felt it went smoother when Emily was the support. It went well but it just needs to be tidied up around the edges and in some places it seems a little disjointed and doesn't flow, which is something we will need to work on. 

Wednesday 21st October 

In the lesson, we picked up where we had left off in the second interview scene. After trying it for a few minutes, we felt we were repeating ourselves and we were saying the same thing as we had done in the flashback. We just felt it really wasn't working and it was becoming boring as it was repeating. While we were discussing this, we felt that the opening flashback needed more detail as there wasn't a strong enough reason as to why Micheal would want to hurt Alice, so we rehearsed the flashback again adding more things for Micheal to say and adding little hints as to what happens in the later. 

In the next lesson, we will come up with ideas as to what can happen in the second flashback and then rehearsing it, so we will find a way of doing the second interview scene which will link into the flashback. 



Alice and the Cheshire Cat after she has fought the Jabberwocky

Week Five

Monday 12th October
In today's double lesson we pushed on and developed the first flashback. Before doing this we sat down and worked out the motives of each character as to why they would want to kill Alice

Elizabeth (Queen of Hearts): Mad at how she has treated Charlie and wants revenge for her.
Charlie (Cheshire Cat): Mad at how she has been treated by Alice and sees red and accidentally kills her.
Jason (Mad Hatter): Fed up of Alice constantly following him around and he kills her to prevent her from doing this any longer
Michael (White Rabbit): Doesn't want to be Alice's babysitter any longer and when she makes him leave he accidentally kills her.

The most obvious in my eyes are Elizabeth and Charlie, one who hates Alice and one that is the wronged best friend. If I were the audience then I would feel that these two are the most obvious and it would surprise me if it were the other two as I felt like this I talked to my peers and they agreed with me. After talking about this a bit longer, we came up with the idea that Alice had killed herself accidentally, perhaps she had been running away from the party, hit her head and fell and died. This was based upon An Inspector Calls, where no one directly kills the deceased but they play a part in the events leading up to her death. We liked this idea as it wasn't obvious and it would surprise the audience when they watched it. We also thought that Michael would have a crush on Alice which is why he wants to be near her.

We then went on to work on the first flashback. What we came up with was that Alice arrived at the party with Michael, much to her annoyance, and quickly left him. She then begrudgingly goes over to talk to Charlie. During their conversation, Alice makes a sly remark about Charlie's dress, which she fails to see. She then has to go to Michael during this time Elizabeth and Charlie fight. Alice then goes over to flirt with Jason, who she fancies but their conversation is disrupted by Charlie who learns Alice dislikes her. The two argue and before Charlie leaves she says 'I wonder why Michael even likes you.'

Today's lesson was really productive as we managed to get a lot done.

Wednesday 14th October
In our single lesson today, we briefly had a run through of what we had so far. We then went onto perform the whole thing we had got so far to an audience. This went really well as they mostly understood what was going on, which was really pleasing. They gave us feedback and told us what they enjoyed. Rosie told me I had to loosen up and not look so nervous when I am getting picked up, which is something I knew I needed to work on. We also considered changing Charlie's character inspiration to doormouse because the Cheshire Cat does not reflect the character as we think the character of Charlie should be shy and timid the opposite of Alice.The feedback was really positive and gave us a lot to improve and consider when we next rehearse.

Alice trying to fight off a pack of cards

Week Four

Monday 5th October
We only had one rehearsal this week, which limited what we were actually able to do. Firstly now we had more space we went through the opening scene which resents Alice falling down the Rabbit Hole. This was the first time we had done it with music with Jack and it went really well. As Jack is the same height as me, Katie and Morgan it made the lift easier as he was able to support my waist while Katie and Morgan had my arms, we also slotted Jack into other parts of the opening sequence and made it better. We then worked on the scene where the four suspects are being integrated, as a script had been produced since our last rehearsal. It worked really well and we developed the characters and learnt more about how they felt about Alice. Having a script made it easier for us and Jake as he could start planning the lighting to go along with what the character says or does.

Alice and the Queen of Hearts from the Disney cartoon adaptation

Week Three

Monday 28th September
In our double lesson today, firstly we did some exercises to warm up. Then we continued working on the opening scene to our play. We continued with what we had done before which involved Alice being pulled all over the place to symbolise her falling down the rabbit hole. Then we tried it with me being picked up by Emily and Morgan and carried forward. We tried different ways of me being picked up and saw what was best. Due to the height difference, we thought it would be best if Katie replaced Emily in picking me up and Emily or Jack supported my back. I was scared at first because I was quite far off the ground but as we practised I learnt to become more tense which made it easier and safer to be picked up. After we had finished the opening scene, we all wrote about our characters so it would become easier to play them. After we had done all this, we used the technique 'hot eating' to tell the others about the characters.

What we learnt:

• The Queen of Hearts hated Alice because she had stole her best friend (Cheshire Cat) from her.
• Alice thought the Mad Hatter was her best friend but in actual fact he doesn't view her as that.
• All the characters are between the ages of 16-18
• Alice doesn't really like the Cheshire Cat as she finds her clingy.

Wednesday 30th September
In today's lesson, we briefly showed Jack the opening scene and then moved on to the next scene where they are being interrogated after Alice has disappeared. As Jack wasn't here on Monday, we learnt more about the White Rabbit. He was sent to the party to guard Alice and is a close family friend. The questions mainly involved asking them 'Who they were? What they did last night? and How they knew Alice?' We voice recorded ourselves saying this so Emily can write it up as a script. This was as far as we got and in our next lesson we plan to further develop this and begin to work on the first flashback at the party.

At the Mad Hatter's tea party from the adaptation staring Johnny Deep



Week Two

Monday 21st September
In today's lesson we decided that all the characters are being questioned after the party about what has happened to Alice and they are all asked questions by a voice over (possibly by the person playing Alice) and they all have different versions of how the night went. We sat down and planned a sequence of events that the piece would follow, after we all agreed that it would set in an interview room in a Police Station.  At the start, it would be party scene, which is meant to represent Alice falling down the Rabbit Hole. This would be done through physical distortion using distorted music so it looks creepy to the audience. This would then go straight to the interview rooms where everyone bar Alice would be interviewed. They would be asked questions by a voice over. This would feature flashbacks that included Alice. We aren't entirely sure how it will end so far, so we will go along as planned and see how the piece could end.
One idea for an ending was that Alice had fallen down a hole and died. We also thought that the Queen of Hearts character could hate Alice and so the audience would think it was her who had caused Alice to die and then right at the end it would be revealed to be someone that the audience wouldn't have suspected. Before we could start trying out our ideas, we decided on who would play which part.


Characters and the actors playing them:
 Alice- Rebekah Richardson (me)
Queen of Hearts- Katie Ovenden
Mad Hatter- Morgan Ratcliffe
White Rabbit- Jack Ryder
Cheshire Cat- Emily Lunn

We then started to improvise different ways in which we could show Alice falling down the Rabbit Hole. We thought it would be a good idea to have Alice stood in the middle and the other characters surrounding her and pulling her all over the place, in a creepy non-realistic sort of way to show the distortion that is Wonderland. Hopefully our audience will understand that Alice is meant to be falling down the hole.

An illustrational from the book by Lewis Carroll

Week One

Monday 14th September
Having all come up with some ideas from the previous week, we sat together as a group and discussed some of the ideas on what direction our stimulus could be developed. We all had come up with different ideas, such as a drug related Wonderland, or a modern day Wonderland. Unable to agree on one topic we came up with where our piece could be set. Some ideas included being in a supermarket, in a school, in a car park or even being buried alive. One idea was in a prison cell, which we all really liked. We then went on to think why our characters would be in jail. Some ideas we came up with were: assault, breaking property, shoplifting, violent disorder, disrupting the peace etc. One idea was that something had happened to Alice and the other characters were in jail and all had very different version of events as to what happened to Alice. Although we wanted to make a modern adaptation, we want to make clear links back to our stimulus. This links to the research we did on the orginal story by Lewis Carroll as we thought that during the police interviews they would all be isolated from the others much like in Alice in Wonderland as Alice is isolated from the real world which makes her discover Wonderland.



Our ideas on what could have happened to Alice and why people end up in jail.

 We then started to try out ways being could be interviewed and give different versions of events. We then tried out ways in which people could behave at a party when they are intoxicated. To further our research we watched a video of how people can behave at party's to see how the characters could act. We also thought it would be a good idea to keep the personality of the book in our piece very similar. For example, the Cheshire Cat would always be smiling, the Queen of Hearts would be mean, the White Rabbit would always be checking the time and the Mad Hatter would be slightly eccentric.

Wednesday 16th September
In order to fully understand the play, we spent this lesson researching it. I found out about the plot of the original story, the key themes that appear in it and also the inspiration behind it. This can be found in the blog post 'Alice in Wonderland' along with where we found the research.

Alice sitting in a tree before she follows the White Rabbit to Wonderland

Our ideas for Alice in Wonderland

My idea for our piece was a contrast to the original. Alice lives in Wonderland and has never lived in the real life, she has only heard about it through her friends in Wonderland. She begins to wish she had a life outside of Wonderland. After a fight with the Mad Hatter (her best friend) she is transported to London, were she finds herself in an orphanage and is adopted by a woman by a women who appears to be kind at first but soon begins to turn nasty. Alice soon realises that the real world isn't all she expected it to be and wishes she was back with her family in Wonderland. Everyone misses Alice back in Wonderland and everyone but the Mad Hatter travel to London to convince Alice to come back home. When they finally find Alice, she is devastated that her best friend hasn't come and refuses to go with them, even though she is clearly unhappy. They spot this and convince the Mad Hatter to return with them back to London. The two best friends reunite and they all travel back to Wonderland as Alice realises all she wants from life is in Wonderland

Target Audience: Young Children

I chose to have young children as he audience because it is quite light hearted and will be colourful and something they would enjoy.

Characters
Alice
Mad Hatter
White Rabbit
Cheshire cat
March Hare
Dormouse
Caterpillar
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
Adoptive Mum (Queen of Hearts inspiration)

The costumes would be bright and would be the same as what they wear in the book and films, so Alice would be in her typical blue dress. This would attract the young children as they would recognise the characters.

We discarded this idea as it would be too long and we wouldn't be able to get it done in the fifteen minutes we have. Also we don't have the budget to have all the costumes that would suit the idea.

Another idea which was from Morgan was that Alice is a lonely girl and is being bullied or abused and Wonderland is her escape in her imagination. It is quite a dark idea so obviously the target audience would be people aged 15 and above because it wouldn't be appropriate for younger children. At the end of the short piece, Alice leaves Wonderland as she doesn't want her imagination to become her life. We decided not to use this idea because we wanted to do a more light hearted piece and avoid drugs because drugs was the core idea in our previous piece. For more details see the picture below:



Ideas for Alice's Imaginary Wonderland

Our other ideas can be found on the blog post 'Week One'.





Alice discovering Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland

Our stimulus for our devised piece is Alice in Wonderland.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pen name Lewis Carroll in 1865. Both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the sequel, (also written by Lewis Carroll) Through The Looking Glass is known for its literary nonsense as the stories are set in a unrealistic world. However being unrealistic is the whole essence of the story as it makes it an intriguing book to read and takes us away from real life and into a whole new world.

Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson ( 27 January 1832- 14 January 1898) was an English writer and mathematician. He has wrote numerous novels but Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the most popular an loved by people of all ages. Carroll was not your typical writer as he suffered from partial deafness and a stammer but that didn't stop him writing one of the most popular children's books of all time. His understanding of logic and children allowed him to create his mystical world named Wonderland. He also developed a passion for photography and was a well known gentleman photographer.  He died on the 14th January 1898 at his sisters home in Guildford of Pneumonia following Influenza. He is buried in Guildford at the Mount Cemetery. There is a memorial towards him in the Poets corner at Westminster Abbey. 

Inspiration behind Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice Liddell

It is believed that a young girl named Alice Liddell was the true inspiration behind the story. Lewis Carroll became extremely close to the Liddell family, particularly the three daughters Lorina, Edith and Alice. One afternoon while taking the three sisters on a rowing trip, Alice and Wonderland was born. He told the girls a story about a young girl named Alice in Wonderland. He presented Alice Liddell with a handwritten illustrated manuscript in November 1864 named Alice's Adventures Under Ground.


Main Characters in the book

Alice- A seven year old girl who's fantasy world is her 'Wonderland'. She is a curious young child who's curiosity leads her to the rabbit hole.
White Rabbit- He initially leads Alice to Wonderland and he is a frantic rabbit always running about.
Cheshire Cat- He disappears and reappears at his own accord, he is called the Cheshire Cat because he is always grinning. He explains the madness and wonder of Wonderland to Alice.
The Caterpillar- A wonderland creature that directs Alice to the mushroom that allows her to shrink and grow.
Mad Hatter- Hosts the tea party which Alice stumbles across. He is impolite and takes great delight in frustrating Alice.
March Hare- A companion of the Mad Hatter. He also takes delight in frustrating Alice.
Dormouse- A mouse at the tea party who drifts in and out of sleep.
The Queen of Hearts- The leader of Wonderland. She is a woman who constantly screams at her subjects and orders them to be beheaded. She dislikes Alice.
The King of Hearts- He co-rules Wonderland but isn't as ruthless as the queen and undoes her orders of execution.
Duchess- A friend of the Queen , who tries to befriend Alice. But whom Alice dislikes.

The Story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice is sat day dreaming by her sisters side when she sees a white rabbit and decides to follow him. Alice follows him down the rabbit and when she reaches the bottom she finds herself in a hallway full of doors. After seeing a beautiful garden through a key hole, she dries after realising she can't fit through the door. She sees a bottle lying on the table with the label 'Drink Me' which she does. Alice shrinks down in size and begins to cry again as she left the key to the door on the table and is now unable to reach it. Alice eats a cake with the label 'Eat Me' which causes her to grow extremely tall. Still unable to reach the garden, she cries again and her tears form a pool around her. She shrinks down and the pool of tears become a sea. She meets a mouse who takes her to shore where Alice sees numerous animals stood on the embankment. They take part in a 'Caucus Race' and Alice finds herself alone after scaring them away with tales of her cat Dinah.

The White Rabbit stumbles across Alice who mistakes her for a servant and orders to fetch some things from his house. Her curiosity gets the better of her once again and she drinks a unmarked bottle of water and grows to the size of the house. When the White Rabbit returns he is furious and is swatted away by a giant Alice. To get her to leave the house the animals throw rocks at it, which turns into cakes in the house. Alice eats one of these cakes and returns to her normal height.  She meets a caterpillar who sits on a mushroom and smokes a hookah after walking into the woods.  The two argue and as the caterpillar is leaving he tells that different parts of the mushroom do different things. She tastes part of the mushroom which makes her grow above the trees.

She eats another part of the mushroom and shrinks down to her normal height. She continues to walk into the woods and stumbles across the house of the Duchess. The Duchess is looking after a baby and also the Cheshire Cat is present. The Duchess is rude to Alice and departs for a croquet game with the Queen of Hearts and hands Alice the baby. The baby is a pig and Alice lets the pig run into the forest.  She meets the Cheshire Cat who tells her that everyone in Wonderland including herself is mad. The Cheshire cat points her towards the March Hare and then disappears into nothing but a floating grin.

She goes to the March Hare and find him, the Mad Hatter and the Door mouse having a tea party. She learns that they are stuck in a perpetual tea-time. After saying her goodbye's, she finds a tree with a door in it and enters finding herself in the great hall once again. She takes the key form the table and using the magic mushrooms she enters into the garden. There she finds the Queen and plays a game of croquet with her. This is no ordinary croquet as the ground is hilly and the mallet is a live flamingo and the ball a live hedgehog.  She sees the Cheshire Cat who asks her how she is getting on. The King of Hearts interrupts the conversation and orders the execution of the Cheshire Cat.

The Duchess attempts to befriend Alice but the Duchess makes Alice feel nervous. The Queen chases the Duchess away and tells Alice to visit the Mock Turtle to hear his story. She listens to the Mock Turtle's story and then they hear an announcement that a trial is about to begin and Alice returns to the croquet ground.

The Knave of Hearts stands trial for stealing the Queens tarts with the King of Hearts leading the proceedings. The Mad Hatters take to the stand as a witness but his testimony makes no sense. The questioning is going nowhere and Alice is called as a witness.  The White Rabbit acting a herald produces a letter which the King believes proves the Knave's guilt. It turns out to be a poem and Alice believes it is nonsense. This displeases both the King and Queen and the Queen orders Alice's execution. Alice grows to an abnormal height once again and knocks over all of the Queen's army of playing cards.

All of sudden, Alice finds herself awake and lying on her sisters lap on the bank once again. She tells her sister about her dream and then goes inside off tea while her sister thinks about Alice's adventures. 

Themes in Alice in Wonderland

Loss of Childhood- In the book Alice cries when she realises she is too big to fit through the door and also once again when she loses control of her body. This suggests that Alice doesn't want to grow up and wants to stay a child so she can return to her Wonderland.

Death- Alice's adventures in Wonderlands are all dangerous and she comes across many dangerous paths. When the Queen orders her execution, Alice begins to realise that Wonderland may not be as ridiculous as it seems. She realises death is a real threat but is nothing to be scared of and that the risks she faced in Wonderland was not absurd after all.

Reactions to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

At the time of the publication it wasn't that popular as people believed it was full of too much nonsense to be taken seriously. More credit was given to the illustrations than the actual story itself. However Queen Victoria enjoyed the book and ordered that the next book wrote by Carroll was to be dedicated to her. Despite the negative response, Carroll wrote a sequel to the book which by the time is was published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland had become more popular. As time went on, the book become more and more popular with people of both gender and ages. It is unlikely that in 2015, you will find someone who doesn't know the story of Alice in Wonderland.

Adaptations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

One adaptation of the book was the 1951 Walt Disney animated film called Alice in Wonderland. Much of plot is the same but minor details have been changed to fit with the time. One of the biggest differences is that towards the end of the film it is Alice on trial not the Knave of Hearts. It also features Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee who didn't feature in the original book but in the sequel. Alice was voiced in this adaptation by Kathryn Beaumont who also voiced Wendy Darling in Peter Pan.

The most popular recent adaptation is the 2010 film, Alice in Wonderland. It stars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen of Hearts and Mia Wasikowska as Alice. This only loosely based on the novel and features characters such as Tweedle Dee and Dum, the Jabberwocky and the White Queen. Also in this Alice is not a seven year old child but a nineteen-year old. A sequel to this Alice Through The Looking Glass which is due for release next year.

Through The Looking Glass

The sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was released in 1871. In this Alice returns to Wonderland is set six months after the first book ended. Most of the characters reappear in the second book, some under names Alice doesn't recognise as much.

How did we use this research

We used this research to come up with ideas that would allow us to perform a modern adaptation but also create links back to the original so we are still making clear links back to the book by Carroll.

Websites used for research

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/alice/

http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/apr/17/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-alice-in-wonderland-lewis-carroll

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/surrey/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8548000/8548055.stm

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/20/lewis-carroll-alice-in-wonderland-adventures-150-years

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll#Alice_books

 

Alice at the Mad Hatter's and March Hare's tea party

Welcome to my blog!

I will use this blog to record our progress in our devised unit 11. We chose to use the stimulus Alice In Wonderland. I will record the research we have done to find out about Alice in Wonderland and also our other ideas we had before we came up with Alice in Wonderland why we discarded them. I will also record the progress we make in rehearsals.