Curiouser and Curiouser

We were in Wonderland last week at London’s V and A for a quite superb exhibition of one the Victorian age’s most astonishing writers, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his nom-de-plume of Lewis Carroll.

‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ can be interpreted in several ways depending on one’s age, attitude and milieu. The exhibition explores these different perspectives on one of the world’s most translated and popular books, appreciated alike by children and adults.

My introduction to ‘Alice’ came as a Christmas present from our then family doctor and friend Iris Copeman. Part of the ‘Collins Classics’ series the olive-green covered book contained illustrations which had been redrawn from Tenniel (who was also ‘Punch’s’ principal political cartoonist) but still remained very attractive. I fell in love with Alice at my first read and have regularly returned to further re-reads: I always seem to find something new and amusing in this extraordinary tale which in many ways reflects so many wishes (including my own) to experience a world where madness may be transformed into sanity.

The V and A exhibition also re-reads Alice in a sequence of psycho-techno areas. First are the essential facts underlying the book: the idyllic summer boating trip which inspired it, the photographic apparatus, and the Christchurch college lecturer’s notes on logic which found their way into Alice Liddell’s adventures underground. For me the most precious part of this section were the original sketches Carroll made for ‘Alice:’ sketches which were elaborated into Tenniel’s memorable illustrations.

‘Alice’ was first filmed in 1903 as a ten minutes feature, the longest of its time. It’s a wonder that this movie has survived (although somewhat damaged ) and it was fascinating to discover all the story’s main features including the White Rabbit and the Queen of Hearts so clearly represented almost one hundred and twenty years ago in celluloid.

Many ‘Alice’ films have followed; in particular Walt Disney’s loveable 1951 full-length cartoon and his studio’s harsher techno-realist 2010 version with Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham-Carter.

The crème-de-la-creme of digital technology was used to enliven the Mad Hatter’s tea party (although we had to search for the hare along the walls of the exhibition).

Costumes from various productions were well-displayed and much else from musical and theatrical productions including photos and posters was on show.

My university days coincided with the flower power era and ‘Alice’ obtained new significance for us students especially as far as the caterpillar and his hookah were concerned.

Alice also appeared in the first avant-pop LP I ever bought: Jefferson Airline’s ‘Surrealistic Pillow’ (although for some strange reason the English issue didn’t include the best song on it: ‘White Rabbit’ sung by the unsubduable Grace Slick who, at the age of 81 is still very much with us).

I opine ‘Alice’ to be one of the best exhibitions I have seen at the V and A. This may be because it took such a long time to come to the public after its gestation because of the pandemic and that unprogrammed wait matured it. Maybe, too, it was because the exhibition made use of the best of the latest digital technology. In this regard I had the greatest fun with virtual reality when playing a game of croquet with hedgehogs, although the flaming pink flamingo was not so cooperative!

As with so many events today one must book on-line beforehand for this ever curiouser and curiouser exhibition. It’s open until the end of the year and opening times are:

Opening hours: Wednesday – Sunday, 10:00 – 17:00. Last admission 16:00.