Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass is a 2001 stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and the 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass. It was written by Adrian Mitchell.[1] A 2 hour adaptation of both of Carroll's novels, it holds the distinction for currently being the most comprehensive stage adaptation of the books yet made, with the endings of both novels intact and only minor changes made for theatrical staging reasons.
Mitchell's adaptation originated as a commission from the Royal Shakespeare Company. In his version, Mitchell uses a fictionalized version of the biographically famous "Golden Afternoon" on the 4th of July 1862, when Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) first told the stories that would become the Alice novels to his friend Canon Robinson Duckworth and the Liddell children, Alice, Lorina, and Edith. Dodgson wrote the stories down, and much later, presented the manuscript of Alice's adventures Underground to Alice Liddell in November 1864.[2] [3] [4]
| Character | 2001 Royal Shakespeare Company cast[5] | |
|---|---|---|
| Alice Liddell / "Alice" | Katherine Heath | |
| Dodgson/ "Dodo" / "The White Knight" | Daniel Flynn | |
| Duckworth/"Duck"/ "The Red Knight" | Jamie de Courcey | |
| Lorina Liddell/ "Lory" | Rosalie Craig | |
| Edith Liddell/ "Eaglet" | Laura Main | |
| The White Rabbit | Richard Henders | |
| Unseen Voice | Flora Dunn | |
| Voice of Cake | Paul Leonard | |
| Voice of Bottle | Sarah Redmond | |
| Voice of Crocodile | Flora Dunn | |
| Mouse | Adam Sims | |
| Magpie | Sarah Quist | |
| Canary | Flora Dunn | |
| Caterpillar | John Conroy | |
| Father William | Robert Horwell | |
| Youth | Jamie Golding | |
| Fish Footman | Christopher Key | |
| Frog Footman | Paul Kissaun | |
| Baby Voice | Sarah Quist | |
| Duchess | Robert Horwell | |
| Cook | Flora Dunn | |
| Cheshire Cat | Sarah Redmond | |
| Mad Hatter / Hatta | Chris Larner | |
| March Hare / Haigha | Martin Turner | |
| Dormouse | Marilyn Cutts | |
| The Queen of Hearts / The Red Queen | Liza Sadovy | |
| The Knave of Hearts | Dominic Marsh | |
| King of Hearts | John Hodgkinson | |
| Ace of Clubs (first soldier) | John Conroy | |
| Gryphon | Martyn Elis | |
| Mock Turtle | Paul Leonard | |
| Tiger-Lily | Sarah Redmond | |
| Goat | Mitchell Moreno | |
| Railway Guard | John Hodgkinson | |
| Man in White Paper | Paul Leonard | |
| Beetle | Mark McLean | |
| Horse | Paul Kissaun | |
| Faun | Dominic Marsh | |
| Tweedle-Dum | Jamie Golding | |
| Tweedle-Dee | Adam Sims | |
| Walrus | Robert Horwell | |
| Carpenter | Chris Larner | |
| Red King | Paul Leonard | |
| White Queen / Sheep | Marilyn Cutts | |
| Humpty Dumpty | Martyn Elis | |
| White King | John Conroy | |
| Lion | Mark Maclean | |
| Unicorn | John Hodgkinson | |
| Aged, Aged Man | Martin Turner |
The review in The Independent called the original 2001 Royal Shakespeare Company production "a magic-free tundra of non-idiosyncrasy" and its Alice, played by Katherine Heath, "charmless".[1] The Guardian thought it faithful to Carroll's text, but called it a game of two halves, Wonderland working well enough, but that Looking-Glass went "off the boil."[6]
The play received a significant revival at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2010 by the Youth Theatre. This revival, unlike its premiere, received more positive reviews, the Angus noting Emily Dyble's "delightful" performance as Alice.[7] The 2022 revival by ARTComedia and Jersey Arts centre also received a positive response, with the Bailwick Express Jersey observing "The sheer scale of the madness played out over the two hours beggars any kind of coherent description, as it should."[8]