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- Making a wrong turn on the way to Wonderland
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Some stories pop up time and time again, in books, movies, and cartoons. Like the one about a little girl who discovered a very colorful world...
KAREN ANNE LIGHT: There’s a very little girl named Alice…
EDNA BARRON: …who lives in England … she is just like you and just like me…
She’s daydreaming one day, when…
LIGHT: …she sees a creature run by…
BARRON: … and starts chasing the rabbit and goes down this hole that she falls down accidentally...
The hole keeps going, and going, and going…
BARRON: … she sees clocks and tea and bells and lights…
LIGHT: … a house … and cookies…
And as she falls…
LIGHT: She says, “I wonder if bats eat cats, and I wonder if cats eat bats. Come to think of it, do cats eat rats?”
What you’re hearing is the story of “Alice in Wonderland” – at least Disney’s version of it. And the voices you heard are from two local performers who have their own take on the Wonderland – one you’ve never heard before.
LIGHT (from “Alice Down the Rwong Wrabbit Whole”): Oh no! Please don’t shoot, I’m just a little girl! Oh no, it’s that f***ing panda again.
Actresses Karen Anne Light and Edna Barron are blurring lines between imagination, reality, and fantasy in their latest show – and they’re taking their audience along for the trip. KALW’s Erica Mu went to the Emerald Tablet theater in San Francisco’s North Beach to find out more.
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Broadcast History
KALW 91.7FM:
October 10, 2011
Transcript
KAREN ANNE LIGHT (from “Alice Down the Rwong Wrabbit Whole” performance): Alice, will you kindly pay attention to your history lesson...
BARRON: I’m sorry but how can one possibly pay attention to a book with no pictures in it?
ERICA MU: Inside a tiny theater on Fresno Street in San Francisco’s North Beach District, Edna Barron and Karen Anne Light are putting on a performance of Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” – or at least they’re trying to.
LIGHT (from “Alice Down the Rwong Wrabbit Whole”): Jesus Christ. (audience member laughs) Are you f***ing kidding me?
BARRON: Where are we?
LIGHT: Gee, I don’t know, Edna. You just derailed the entire show to talk about aliens and garbage, maybe you can tell me where we are. (audience member laughs)
“Alice in Wonderland” has gone completely topsy-turvy – if that makes any sense. Barron and Light are sumo wrestling … and beating each other with...
Read the full transcript
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Daniel Gross
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 03:32 PM | Permalink
In the golden afternoon...
Dare I pun? Wonderful piece.
I'm especially a fan of the layered production here -- generally understated but ear-catching. It guides you from the wonders (and the stage-blunders) to the play's backstory.
This is an interesting story to begin with, but it's the characters that drive this piece. And that's a very good thing, because they're great behind the wheel. You can hear their chemistry. And you can also hear the craft of the producer that pulled it out of them and braided it into a narrative. Made my (golden) afternoon that much better.