Alice

Libretto by Kristine Tornquist after Lewis Carroll (E)

actress,S,M,CT,T,Bar,BBar; choir(from ensemble);
2(II=picc).0.0.2-0.2.3.0-perc(2-3):timp/vib/marimba/tam-t/BD+cyms/chimes(metal+wood)/sleighbells/tpl.bl/conga/glsp/guiro/ratchet/susp.cym/tgl/lion's roar-accordion-pft(detuned)-strings(3.3.3.3.1)

Alice follows a white rabbit that hastily runs past her and falls down a deep shaft into a universe where the laws of logic appear to have been suspended. In Wonderland, mushrooms grow that make you bigger or smaller, animals speak in riddles, and identities are as fleeting as the smoke from the hookah that the caterpillar blows into the air. Alice encounters a Cheshire Cat who appears and disappears at will, a Mad Hatter who celebrates an endless tea party with the March Hare and a sleepy mouse, and a Mock Turtle who melancholically laments his school days in the sea.

Again and again, Alice realises that everything in Wonderland is in flux: language is twisted, logic is turned upside down, rules change from moment to moment. Nevertheless, she keeps a clear head and begins to stand up to the mischief. In the Queen of Hearts’ palace, she gets caught up in a grotesque game of croquet with flamingos as mallets and hedgehogs as balls. The Queen, capricious and domineering, demands executions for every displeasure – but Alice will not be intimidated.

When she herself becomes the defendant in an absurd trial, she realises that the authority of this world is based solely on deception. With a clear mind and childlike defiance, she stands up to arbitrariness – and thus causes the entire house of cards to collapse. Whether it was a dream or reality remains open – but Alice returns transformed: more alert, more courageous and with a new idea of what sense and nonsense can be.

Comic