Directed by David Nosko

Performances:
3:00pm, February 17 and March 2, 2008, at the Monroe County Public Library Auditorium
7:30pm, February 22 and 23, 2008, at The Cinemat
3:00pm, February 24, 2008, at The Cinemat
3:00pm, March 1, 2008, at Brown County Public Library
Admission Free, Donations Accepted

To the Dreamers:

Following in the heels of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865), Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass" (1871) creates a world where nothing is quite as it seems. Carroll, a pseudonym for English author Lutwidge Dodgson, more or less created the concept of "literary nonsense" with the publication of both Alice stories, and readers continue to feel bewildered by the nonsensical gibberish spewing from his characters mouths.

In Roy Sillings's one-hour fifteen minute adaptation of Through the Looking Glass for the stage, Alice's senses are once again overtaken by her imagination and the journey that follows is nothing less than ridiculous. Lost in this story are the wonderments of Wonderland like the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, The Mad Hatter, and Bill the Lizard. Also gone are the Deck of Cards and that Queen of Hearts belch: "Off with her head."

Instead, the Looking Glass introduces audiences to Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Humpty Dumpty, and the Red King, while the action takes place on a chessboard as Alice pursues the Red Queen's throne. Also included in this instead of that are the often awkward poems the "Jabberwocky" and "The Walrus and the Carpenter."

How silly, perhaps, to think that it is only Alice who shares the dream of dreaming. The creatures she imagines in her mind are no more controlled by her will than her will is to control them. Contrariwise, the thirst to be more than oneself is shared by all those funny chess pieces on her path to royal glory.

Alice's Looking Glass adventure is a delightful chance for those of us who have outgrown our playful nature to recall our youthful chitchats with inanimate objects like flowers and imagery friends. Her adventure is a reminder for us to never outgrow our creativity and to never underestimate the world we think we see around us. No-how!

A quick glance in Alice's mirror reveals the upside down perspective we forget to remember if we cared to remember at all. Most importantly, Alice's journey through her mirror teaches us that we should never stop reaching for success no matter the absurdity of our shared reality and collective consciousness. Let your imagination be thy guide.

After all, are you, perhaps, just a dream someone else is dreaming?

The Monroe County Civic Theater Dinner Theatre Series is provided with support from the Bloomington Area Arts Council; the Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency; and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.