As an avid Alice in Wonderland reader, I did not appreciate the structural changes the play took because it took the English culture and language out of the story. I do not believe disco lights and the theme song of “Secret Agent Man” during the set changes were at all appropriate for the story of Alice’s adventures. T he sequence of stories in the theatrical story was also much different than the text. Finally, the play seemed to cut out all the great imaginative animals that it could.
The play opens with Alice falling asleep amongst the audience who is listening to a history lesson from the teacher, “Mrs. Crabbypants.” Mrs. Crabbypants awakes Alice and informs her that she should tell the class (the audience) about her dreams that were more important than her history lesson. The first inaccurate portrayal thus begins with Alice being trapped in a small room. There was no white rabbit to drop “the kid gloves and fan,” while she was trapped in the room nor did she ever cry or ask the famous question of “who in the world am I?” (466). Instead, she spoke to the door that told her to drink the bottled potion on the floor so that she would be small enough to fit through the door. As she does this Alice, is now small enough to fit through the door and enter her wonderland. The play skips Alice’s confrontation in the pool of tears with the easily offended mouse, the caucus-race, and the scene at the rabbit’s house. To my surprise, the scene with the caterpillar’s advice and famous question “Who are you?” was omitted as well (479). The play went to a scene with the White Rabbit calling Alice by the name of “Maryann,” the rabbit’s maid, and asking her to find his gloves so that he may go play croquet with the Queen.
After the White Rabbit runs off because he is “terribly late,” Alice runs into the Tweedles. I did not think the modern spin of the Tweedles playing Guitar Hero was an effective twist, even for a young audience. The Tweedles never tell Alice the story of The Walrus and the Caterpillar, they only tell her they have never seen the White Rabbit and leave the stage to play more Guitar Hero. I do not think teaching children those classic stories from our past contained videogames. It just seems like a valid excuse to encourage them that playing these games for hours upon end is acceptable and has been a cultural norm for decades. Shouldn’t Alice’s stories encourage kids to wander into their own imaginations rather than into the living room’s Xbox?
The play then moves to its third scene involving Alice and the Cheshire Cat. Although out of sequence, this scene did remain true to the text. Alice asked it “but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in all my life!” (487). Alice then falls into the fourth scene showing the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.
The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party scene only had a few mistakes in its representation. The famous riddle, “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” was asked and Alice still had trouble allowing the Mad Hatter and the March Hare to allow her to join the tea party. When they were discussing the Mad Hatter’s watch, he screamed “it is the fourth of the month” followed by the Mad Hare’s response of “Two days wrong.” In the text, Alice guesses the date is the fourth and the Mad Hatter sighs by saying “Two days wrong” (490).
The fifth and final scene occurs on the croquet field where Alice has finally found the White Rabbit. After meeting the Queen of Hearts and begging to keep her head, Alice is asked to be a jury in the case of a man stealing the Queen’s tarts.” Alice asks the victim questions to prove that the Mad Hatter stole the tarts and not the victim. The stage then goes dark with the irritating “Secret Agent Man” theme song and Alice is back in her history class just as she was an hour ago.
At the play’s conclusion, I asked one of the actors why so many famous lines and scenes were omitted. His answer was that they were trying to appease a very young audience who would be relating to the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland rather than the actual text. So we are now a digital culture who does not appreciate the value of a classic children’s tale. Children are expected to grow up learning morals and ethics through the screen of Disney movies. I do not believe that at twenty-one years I am considered old, but I do remember reading the Alice books as a child and was rather scared of the Disney movie. Why is it this generation of children must now be deprived of a classic book in exchange for Disney’s adaptation? What are these children to think in one week when the new Alice in Wonderland movie comes out with even more contradictions to the text and previous movie? My advice to the parents of today: try reading stories to your children rather than buying the DVD version. You might actually bond with your child and encourage them to remember these tales with your voice in their head, not a famous actor.
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