lookingglass96
Joined Jun 2012
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lookingglass96's rating
(Available to watch on Internet Archive)
This 2002 stage recording of Royal Shakespeare Company/Adrian Mitchell's adaptation of Carroll's Alice books boasts a almost complete adaptation (hardly any scene in either book is left out, and those that are are for staging/time constratints) and a very beautiful prologue and epilogue which ground the 2 stories in their biographical background.
To pass the time on an Oxford boating trip on the 4th of July 1862, Charles Dodgson (Daniel Flynn) tells his friends Robinson Duckworth (Jamie De Courcey) Alice Liddell (Katherine Heath) Edith Liddell (Laura Main) and Lorina Liddell (Rosalie Craig in her first ever role) stories about another girl named "Alice" (also played by Heath, in a more energetic, eccentric tone) and her adventures in 2 strange lands, one down a rabbit hole, the other through the mirror.
The portrayal of the boating party is spot on, Flynn's Dodgson being written with humanity and a depth not afforded in biopics about the man.
What makes this adaptation work so well is that it never forgets this grounding: the people and creatures the fictional "Alice" meets in both wonderland and looking glass land are sometimes played by the same actors as the rest of the boating party. In a sense, Mitchell's version allows you as an audience member to place yourself in the imaginations of these 5 people as they create and listen to these stories.
Also astonishing are the performances of the rest of the large ensemble cast, some of them playing up to 6 characters in Alice's reveries. Standouts include. Chris Larner's Hatter/Hatta, John Hogkinson's King of Hearts and. Unicorn,and Liza Standovy's Queen of Hearts and Red Queen.
Michell's adaptation displays a love of the books it adapts, and has successfully been integrated into the UK amateur theatre community.
Until it gets a major revival, we have this lovely recording to cherish. What a treat.
This 2002 stage recording of Royal Shakespeare Company/Adrian Mitchell's adaptation of Carroll's Alice books boasts a almost complete adaptation (hardly any scene in either book is left out, and those that are are for staging/time constratints) and a very beautiful prologue and epilogue which ground the 2 stories in their biographical background.
To pass the time on an Oxford boating trip on the 4th of July 1862, Charles Dodgson (Daniel Flynn) tells his friends Robinson Duckworth (Jamie De Courcey) Alice Liddell (Katherine Heath) Edith Liddell (Laura Main) and Lorina Liddell (Rosalie Craig in her first ever role) stories about another girl named "Alice" (also played by Heath, in a more energetic, eccentric tone) and her adventures in 2 strange lands, one down a rabbit hole, the other through the mirror.
The portrayal of the boating party is spot on, Flynn's Dodgson being written with humanity and a depth not afforded in biopics about the man.
What makes this adaptation work so well is that it never forgets this grounding: the people and creatures the fictional "Alice" meets in both wonderland and looking glass land are sometimes played by the same actors as the rest of the boating party. In a sense, Mitchell's version allows you as an audience member to place yourself in the imaginations of these 5 people as they create and listen to these stories.
Also astonishing are the performances of the rest of the large ensemble cast, some of them playing up to 6 characters in Alice's reveries. Standouts include. Chris Larner's Hatter/Hatta, John Hogkinson's King of Hearts and. Unicorn,and Liza Standovy's Queen of Hearts and Red Queen.
Michell's adaptation displays a love of the books it adapts, and has successfully been integrated into the UK amateur theatre community.
Until it gets a major revival, we have this lovely recording to cherish. What a treat.
I believe the review below entitled "Fraudulent picture" just says it all.
It speaks volumes that instead of celebrating Carroll's life for this 150th anniversary back in 2015, the BBC chose what amounts to an almost character assassination on the man. Although never repeated it is still floating around online and has been exported to several countries.
I am writing this because I'd hate for anyone to be mislead about this documentary, and its claims.
The supposed photo of Lorina Liddell, given a considerable amount airtime at the end of this "documentary" is extremely dubious. The photo comes from a private collection in photos in France, and is only attributed to Carroll due to the date: Carroll was using photography at this time, but so were many hundreds of other photographers.
The World expert, Edward Wakeling, is also given some airtime in this documentary, mainly to talk about the social and cultural differences of the Victorian era to our own. Whilst this relevant for the discussion on the photo, this extremely important point is not brought up again.
Notice that Wakeling and the earlier Carroll expert, Jenny Woolf, are not given time to talk about this photo. That's because the photo segment was added in late: so late that no expert could give their opinion on it. We are instead left with the non professional "gut feeling" of a consultant who is not a Lewis Carroll expert.
World expert Wakeling DID examine this supposed photo: in 1993: and determined it wasn't by Carroll.
However instead of addressing this, the documentary disregards these points to focus on sensationalism. In the ending, the presenter Martha Carney seems to imply that we shouldn't celebrate Carroll's legacy, presumably because he was like every other Victorian photographer of the age.
Wakeling later wrote a scathing article in the Lewis Carroll Society Journal about his experiences on this documentary, and has managed to ensure it is never repeated.
Anyone with a passing interest in Victorian studies, literature, culture, or photography can see right through this deceiving documentary.
It speaks volumes that instead of celebrating Carroll's life for this 150th anniversary back in 2015, the BBC chose what amounts to an almost character assassination on the man. Although never repeated it is still floating around online and has been exported to several countries.
I am writing this because I'd hate for anyone to be mislead about this documentary, and its claims.
The supposed photo of Lorina Liddell, given a considerable amount airtime at the end of this "documentary" is extremely dubious. The photo comes from a private collection in photos in France, and is only attributed to Carroll due to the date: Carroll was using photography at this time, but so were many hundreds of other photographers.
The World expert, Edward Wakeling, is also given some airtime in this documentary, mainly to talk about the social and cultural differences of the Victorian era to our own. Whilst this relevant for the discussion on the photo, this extremely important point is not brought up again.
Notice that Wakeling and the earlier Carroll expert, Jenny Woolf, are not given time to talk about this photo. That's because the photo segment was added in late: so late that no expert could give their opinion on it. We are instead left with the non professional "gut feeling" of a consultant who is not a Lewis Carroll expert.
World expert Wakeling DID examine this supposed photo: in 1993: and determined it wasn't by Carroll.
However instead of addressing this, the documentary disregards these points to focus on sensationalism. In the ending, the presenter Martha Carney seems to imply that we shouldn't celebrate Carroll's legacy, presumably because he was like every other Victorian photographer of the age.
Wakeling later wrote a scathing article in the Lewis Carroll Society Journal about his experiences on this documentary, and has managed to ensure it is never repeated.
Anyone with a passing interest in Victorian studies, literature, culture, or photography can see right through this deceiving documentary.