Wunderland

Text by Alexander Jansen after Lewis Carroll (G)

S,M,Bar;
cl-perc(1):3wdbl(hi,med,lo)/3bongo(hi,med,lo)/conga/tamb/cyms/3pots(different sizes)/glsp/tgl/whistle-gtr(may be played by singer)-accordion-db

Alice follows the White Rabbit and falls through a hole into Wonderland. A mouse saves her from the pool of her own tears. Alice encounters the Walrus and the Carpenter, a stoned Caterpillar as well as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, but none of the creatures can show her the path or give her any other useful information. She finds a welcome reception neither in the house of the Duchess nor at the tea party of the Mad Hatter and March Hare. The Cheshire Cat has an explanation: We’re all mad here! Alice relies on her imagination, rather than on logic – and arrives at the place of her yearning: an enchanted garden. The flowers advise her that one climbs the hill walking backwards. When she reaches the top, the earth opens and a dreadful dragon rises up from the depths. Alice banishes him with the magic phrase: "You don’t exist."

Alice returns to reality. After her experiences and the lapse of time, her door to childhood is closed. Yet, her imagination shall open a loophole for her from time to time.

"The Cheshire Cat sings a genuine blues. Schreier composed the boat ride from Wonderland back to reality as a fugue. Yet the song cycle sounds astonishingly homogeneous ... The affectionate arrangement of the events in which appearances never coincide with reality, the captivating music, and the amusing texts beyond all logic make Wonderland a thoroughly enjoyable evening of theatre. During its course, the viewers and listeners let themselves be carried away from reality for an hour by the power of imagination." (Jürgen Strein, Fränkische Nachrichten, 20 Apr 2013)

Comic, Poetic