Alice Through the Looking-Glass

R. Kerry White is the director of theatre arts at Laurentian University.

James Reaney has created a dramaturgy that lifts Alice beyond a mere
“children’s play” to the level of a surrealistic tour de force
with obvious psychological (not to say demonic) undertones. Because the
scene directions are included, along with a helpful foreword, preface,
and notes, the play is a good read.

But it is one thing to read a description of Alice running (but getting
nowhere), and quite another to experience it. The living representation
of the fantastic chess game, with Alice as the white pawn, allows us to
experience the adventure through her. Alice will have 11 moves, through
meetings with Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty, the Knight, and
others, until she reaches the eighth square and becomes a Queen—when
“it’s all feasting and fun!”

Also included in the book are brief sections that outline ways in which
children can create their own Alice. One of these is the provision of 20
cutouts of John Tenniel’s equally famous characters (which can be
placed over conventional chess pieces) and a list of all of the moves.
All of which give good and sufficient reasons for this particular
publication—it is much more than just the text of a play.