Pittsburgh City Paper: "'What the hell was that I just saw?' grumbled a nearby theater-goer leaving what I had enjoyed as a fascinating multimedia spectacle. OK, the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama's The Alice Project is not for everyone. A familiarity with the play's inspiration, Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass (And What Alice Found There), would probably help; just don't be pedantic about it. This is an interpretation, actually an experiential one, of that book's sequel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Alice Project
Pittsburgh City Paper: "'What the hell was that I just saw?' grumbled a nearby theater-goer leaving what I had enjoyed as a fascinating multimedia spectacle. OK, the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama's The Alice Project is not for everyone. A familiarity with the play's inspiration, Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass (And What Alice Found There), would probably help; just don't be pedantic about it. This is an interpretation, actually an experiential one, of that book's sequel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
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6 comments:
It's great to see a positive review from this paper and it reflects well on the school. not that I didn't enjoy the show but it can be confusing as the author mentioned what he over heard someone saying. I'm surprised that is was a glowing positive review, I would have suspected a little bit of criticism from the critic front.
I agree completely. Alice is definitely not for everyone. I had the same experience with another audience member when I went to the show. I feel like the CMU audience particularly the older crowd will not enjoy Alice. They want to see the book come to life in a traditional sense. They are not prepared nor excited about exploring the meaning behind Alice.
The show is not for everyone, but it's great to see this reviewer enjoyed it! I think the reviewer here picked up on some points that are important to keep in mind when seeing this show: It's not about telling a story, it's about how you tell a story. It's confusing at times, yes. Perhaps also more cumbersome than the author suggests, but it's experiential, it defies the traditional mold of theatre. Accepting this is a non-standard piece of non-story telling that focuses on the means is an important filter to have when assessing this show.
It is interesting to see an outside perspective. I think that some times theater, especially theater that is done in a school setting can be a little bit self serving. But to hear someone from outside the school of drama like the show, is good. On the other hand I have a friend who saw it who is in Civil engineering and did not fallow it or like it. I did not see the revised ending, but from what I hear that ending helped the show a lot because it tied the entire show together. I was really intrigued by Alice, that being said I do not think that it lived up to it's fullest potential. I think it could have been pushed more, but it got about half way to where it was trying to go. And I’m also excited that CMU is doing this kind of show so that we can try different ways of putting on a play.
I'm really surprised to hear about the confusion that so many people had with the show. I actually think the show was so simple that audience members are starting to overthink it, and this is leading to the confusion. Like so many "reviews" nowadays, this article doesn't so much review the show as explain it, which is disappointing because I was really looking forward to getting an outside opinion on the show over the whole "I didn't understand it" discussion. When stepping back and looking at the show, it is pretty easy to discuss, and I think there are some definite critiques that can be made.
I don't think i have appreciated taking foundations so much before. i always hated the idea of reading a play before you see it. I guess i always thought that it took something away from the experience of live theater. But i couldn't have been more wrong, especially when it came to Alice. I could grasp the simple story, but i couldn't grasp everything. After i went home and did a little bit more research on the story behind it, it mad so much more sense and i appreciated it a lot more.
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