From campfires to screens, stories have been told in many different forms. Soon, the Gateway Performing Arts Department is going to be telling the story of a little girl named Alice who fell down a rabbit hole. Many of you may already know this story, but do you know its background?
Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, wrote this story originally with the title Alice’s Adventures Underground. It was meant to just be a way of entertaining two little girls on a boat who inspired him. Soon, however, he wrote it into existence making the iconic tale we know and love today.
If you don’t know the plot, it begins with Alice sitting in the grass peacefully when a white rabbit in a waist coat runs by. Alice is intrigued and runs after it, the rabbit dives into a rabbit hole, and Alice slips and falls as well. Upon entering Wonderland she meets the Cheshire Cat, he tells her she has fallen into Wonderland and that she must find herself in order to find her way home. As Alice tries to find someone to help her get home, she comes across interesting characters such as a Caterpillar with a pipe, Humpty Dumpty, and the Queen of Hearts.
When Alice meets the Queen, she discovers the Queen is awfully fond of beheading people. As she runs from the Queen, she comes across more characters until she is eventually caught by the Queen and put on trial for allegedly stealing her tarts. In the end, Alice realizes that she only had to believe in her true self to find her way home again. On the surface, this story might appear like some fever dream or a lesson about not stealing tarts. If you look a little deeper, however, you’ll notice how it reflects our world through the eyes of a child.
As Alice finds her way through Wonderland, she is often criticized and gets her questions dismissed by the characters because she doesn’t understand the world she has fallen into. Often this is how adults treat children who don’t understand the rules or reasons of the adult world. Alice wanders through Wonderland with more questions than answers, until she starts asking herself as the Cheshire cat says to. When she does that, she accepts herself and finds her own path in Wonderland.
This story shows how a child’s curiosity is often crushed by adults’ impatience and ridicule. Alice In Wonderland is a story meant to show children that to wonder is not wrong but in fact, how we find our independence and true self. It shows us that maintaining a child-like curiosity isn’t something to be ashamed of. Alice in Wonderland is a classic tale of discovering your own path through the rabbit hole that we call society, and that being curious can lead to a life of wonder and adventure.
With more wonders than before, the Gateway Performing Arts Department is putting on a production of the original script of Alice in Wonderland. With former Gateway student Erin Galczynski leading the helm, it’s bound to be an adventurous, thrilling, slightly mad experience that you don’t want to miss!
