This past Saturday I saw an amazing show called "Then She Fell" in a building which was once a school in Williamsburg. "Then She Fell" is an interactive theatre performance based on the writings of Lewis Carroll. Once the audience / participants (a small group of 15 people) had assembled in a waiting room we were each given a set of keys and a glass of mulled wine. The only rules we had to follow were to only speak if spoken to by the cast and to not open any closed doors.
I was impressed with how well orchestrated the production was. I was ushered up and down stairs, into and out of various rooms, sometimes alone and sometimes with one other person or a small group of people.
During some scenes I was a spectator and in others, a part of the action. As a child, "Alice in Wonderland" was one of my favourite books. It was fantastic to actually BE a guest at the mad hatter's tea party and to paint a white rose red.
The music and sets really transport you to another world. I was offered food and drink during this show which of course I partook of.
The dark side of Lewis Carroll's aka Charles Dodgson's relationship with the real Alice Liddell is explored in this production. Why did Alice's mother suddenly insist of stopping all contact with Dodgson? Why did Dodgson's sister rip out and destroy pages from his diary?
Curiouser and curiouser....
"Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes."
-Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
