Adelaide Claxton, Wonderland, 1860s-70s
This was on the front cover of the first Alice edition I ever owned, aged seven.
I think this illsutration is meant to represent a Victorian reader of Carroll's novel. If you look very closely, the book the girl is reading is entitled "Strange dreams" which being dream narratives, Carroll's Alice novels certainly are!
Thank you Royal Opera!
Possibly to make up for the now lost Unsuk Chin Looking-Glass, Royal Opera will instead present the first staged non concert premiere of Gerald Barry's Alice's adventures Underground. This will be in February, and will run for only 9 performances (!)
Fun, furious, frantic, and utterly fantastic! The surreal world of Lewis Carroll’s Alice, both in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, is given an extra twist in Gerald Barry’s operatic treatment. Antony McDonald (of 2018/19’s Hansel and Gretel) directs and designs this new production – the first ever staging of this musically virtuoso opera – with more than a touch of the Victorian toy theatre. The Red Queen, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter: meet a kaleidoscope of colourful characters in this joyful, headlong rush into a world gone deliciously mad.
Last year I reviewed the concert radio broadcast, but this will be a whole production!
Adapting both Wonderland and Looking-Glass, Barry's opera flits wildly from one event to the next, making it one of the most dreamlike Alice adaptations out there!
This new production is with INO (Irish National opera) who have broadcast links with RTE (Irish TV) Hmmm....
`You ought to be ashamed of yourself,’ said Alice, `a great girl like you,’ (she might well say this), `to go on crying in this way! Stop this moment, I tell you!’ But she went on all the same, shedding gallons of tears, until there was a large pool all round her, about four inches deep and reaching half down the hall.
Illustration by Luca Di Napoli for Alice's adventures in Wonderland.
There are 4 of these, and I'll post each one individually. They are among some of my most favourite illustrations, balancing a gothic style with bright flourishes.
I think Napoli captures the ambiguity of Alice's adventures perfectly. Whilst wondrous, there are also dark shades here and there.
Such a shame Napoli never illustrated the full novel, or Looking Glass for that matter.
These illustrations also remind me of my friend Victoria Westhill's style of drawing.
Alice looked round eagerly, and found that it was the Red Queen. `She's grown a good deal!' was her first remark. She had indeed: when Alice first found her in the ashes, she had been only three inches high -- and here she was, half a head taller than Alice herself!
Illustration by Maria Kirk for Through the Looking Glass
