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Work

Dining with Alice suite : for soloists, choir and chamber orchestra

by David Gale and Frank Millward (1999, this version: 2011)

Work Overview

'Dining with Alice was one of the earliest instances of immersive (where spectators are part of the action), site-specific (the place is part of the subject) theatre. It was a landmark.' First performed in 1999 at the Salisbury Festival, the piece was conceived and directed by Hilary Westlake and staged in the Victorian pleasure gardens of Salisbury as part of the Salisbury Festival, commissioned by the then festival director Helen Marriage. In 2011 the work was part of the Norfolk and Norwich festival, produced by Artichoke, transplanted to the beautiful grounds of a 15th-century moated manor house. 'Lewis Carroll's characters unleashed from Alice's dream, wandering through a landscape accompanied by an audience whose walk is punctuated by the courses of a meal.' (Quotations from Susannah Clapp - Observer Newspaper U.K. 15 May 2011).

Work Details

Year: 1999, this version: 2011

Instrumentation: The music presented here has been taken from the 2011 Artichoke production and comes from that section of the work which took place as a concert performance in an outdoor setting ‘grounds of a 15th centurymoated manor house’ performed by the eight characters (Queen of Hearts, Red Queen, White Queen, the Duchess, King of Hearts, White Knight, Mad Hatter, Tweedle (Dum Dee), a choir of waiters and a Chamber Orchestra consisting of trumpet Bb, horn in F, bass trombone, keys, percussion, strings.

Duration: 30 min.

Contents note: String quintets (Slice Of Alice ; A March Air For Alice ; Mad Hatters ; Alice's common sense song) -- A slice of Alice (chamber orchestra) -- The spider and the fly (for soloists and chamber orchestra) -- The flight of the Cornish dog (spoken voice and chamber orchestra) -- Old Mother Hubbard (soprano, 7 character voices, and chamber orchestra) -- Alice's common sense song (solo or duet young voice and chamber orchestra) -- Brightside (soprano, baritone, choir and chamber orchestra).

Commission note: Commissioned by the Salisbury Festival UK

This work is ideally suited to being presented in a concert format, approximately thirty minutes in duration – not including the String Quintets. If the performance is staged as a concert the String Quintets would aptly be played as pre-concert or interval music.

Performances of this work

13 Aug 2015: at Visual Music (Harold Lobb Concert Hall, Newcastle Conservatorium of Music).

18 May 2011: at Dining with Alice (Elsing Hall, Norfolk).

12 May 2011: at Dining with Alice (Elsing Hall, Norfolk).

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