So ACMI's massive retrospective on Carroll, Alice and culture opened in Singapore on Saturday on its first tour stop.
As I hoped, there is an extra attached:
Alice is everywhere film festival
Not what you might think.
This one is a bit complex: the 2018 Australian premiere also had a film festival with this title, but unfortunately the Singapore version does not have the depth of the 2018 ACMI fest.
Instead of showing films inspired by Carroll's books, Singapore's Alice is Everywhere offers up 3 versions of Alice. These are 1951, 1933 and 1966 BBC.
They are only on for three weeks starting now.
Whilst this is always extremely welcome, it feels a little weak in comparison with the original ACMI festival which had 10 + films, many rarities.
I have no idea why only 3 films are being shown. I also have no idea if this Alice is Everywhere will become the standard touring version..... I hope not.
It was terribly hot. I lay in the shade of a tree, feeling quite limp. I had put down my handkerchief on the grass: I reached out for it to fan myself when suddenly it called out, ‘Miaow!’ Here was a pretty puzzle. I looked and found that it wasn’t a handkerchief any longer. It had become a plump ginger cat with bushy whiskers, staring at me in the boldest way.
from HaJaBaRaLa (A topsy-turvy tale)
Born in Bengal, India in 1887, Saukmar Ray’s nonsense works would go on to shape the fabric on Bengali culture, being continually referenced and parodied. in many ways the Ray-Carroll comparison is apt, as both writers wrote fledgling works for family magazines. In the case of Ray, it was one that he and his brother Subinay Ray helped set up through their father’s publishing firm. The majority of Ray’s nonsense work was written for “Sandesh” over an 8 year period. The most famous of these works being the collection of satires/poems “Abol Tabol” and the Carrollian “HaJaBaRaLa (A topsy-turvy tale)“ in which a young child gets lost in a bizarre world after following a handkerchief which has turned into an impertinent cat.
Despite his work being cultural currency in India, sadly essays and such in the western world seem to be lacking… which I find a little odd for someone whose work is considered an equivalent and equal to Carroll.
Both Abol Tabol and Hajabarala have been translated into English by Oxford University Press.
Excerpts and a better overview here.
1987 Documentary here.
CAN BE HEARD: HERE (LIBRETTO HERE, YOU WILL NEED IT)
This 2016 opera by Gerald Barry covers the majority of both Alice books (when I say majority I mean most of the major Wonderland scenes.. then the entirety of Looking-Glass from live flowers onwards)
The title is Alice’s adventures Underground and its a total misnomer. Not only has it got nothing to do with Carroll’s manuscript original, as I’ve explained above it also adapts the majority of both novels.
Its incredibly fast paced and as a result, hectic, surreal and very dreamlike. Unlike other versions there appears to be no transitions between scenes. So every scene starts and ends incredibly abruptly.
I like this approach a lot.
Barbra Hannigan plays the role of Alice and is actually really convincing as a seven and a half year old. The characterisation of Alice in this version is adorable, the bizarre singing style that Barry’s singers have to push themselves to really shows. Alice sounds squeaky and in spoken parts, earnestly curious.
All the other characters of both books are split between 6 singers, Hilary Summers, Allison Cook, Allan Clayton, Peter Tantsits, Mark Stone and Joshua Bloom. All match up to the enormously complex task admirably.
The libretto is also a lot of fun, although at times its hard to hear what’s being sung. I’m very glad a typed out Libretto was available. It makes it easier to understand when you can follow along!
The croquet match is a crazy cacophony of singers singing various scales and things in different languages to match Alice’s confusion over the game. The lobster Quadrille is sung by the entire group of singers in a distorted round. Jabberwocky is recited multiple times in different languages. Overall everything is incredibly inventive and quite possibly not like any opera you’ve ever heard before.
Apologies for all the archival posts but I am hastily transferring old content from tumblr to this blog.
These archival posts will be tagged with Archive post (from old tumblr) to clear up any confusion.
I'm transferring the last few essays and reviews across and hopefully can start photo archive soon!
Thanks for your patience!
