2010 programme

Simple listing for printing.
Although many Alice activities run all day, some activities and performance take place just once so check this timetable of one-off events to help plan your day. This map may also be useful.

University of Oxford venues:

Ashmolean Museum
1-4pm A drop-in family event. Fun things to discover, make and do inspired by Alice.

Bodleian Library
Visit a one-day only exhibition of Salvador Dali’s illustrations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and see a selection of the earliest editions of Alice and a printing plate for The Mouse’s Tale kindly on loan from the Oxford University Press archive.
Read more about the Alice treasures in Oxford.
1.15pm Alice and the White Rabbit from the Curious Company make an appearance amongst the low doors of the Bodleian quadrangle.

Botanic Gardens
An afternoon of family activities, games and entertainment.
1pm-4pm Summer picnic: bring your own picnic and enjoy the garden where Lewis Carroll used to meet the Liddell family.
2pm The Hunting of the Snark: a huge surreal game of hide and seek by the Mad Dogs Theatre Company, an amazing adventure where anything can and will happen...
Shiplake College Mad Dogs Theatre Company from Shiplake College, Henley-on-Thames, was set up in 2004 and, directed by Catherine Saker, now has a reputation for developing some of the most unusual and challenging theatrical performances within an educational setting. In 2009 they performed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as promenade theatre in the Botanic Gardens and we are excited to invite them back by popular demand.

Christ Church
Visit the college where Lewis Carroll lived and worked, and visit the Dining Hall which has many connections with Alice.
For childrens and their grown-ups:
a rare opportunity to take part in a mad hatter's tea party in the cathedral of Lewis Carroll’s college. Ticket price £12 for an adult and a child; £6 for each additional child. Entry via Tom Gate.
10am, e-mail Esther to pre-book by Wednesday 23rd June. Please wear fancy dress.
For everyone: a reduced ticket price for Alice’s Day visitors with Alice’s Day voucher (£1 off the normal price of adult £6; children/students/pensioners £4.50). The college is open for visitors from 9am - 5pm. Please present your voucher (which will be available here shortly) at the visitor entrance through the large gate in Christ Church's Meadow Building.

Museum of History of Science
11am-3pm Children’s drop-in trail  inspired by Alice in Wonderland, best suited to children ages 5 and up.
From July 6 to August 1  Mad Tea Party: An exhibition of curiosities for younger visitors in honour of Alice's Day, in the Entrance Gallery.
Lewis Carroll was an excellent photographer at a time when few people had cameras. His photographic chemical box, with his initials “C. L. D.” on the lid, is on display in the Museum of the History of Science. His old glass-plate camera has not survived.

Museum of Natural History
See the remains of the Dodo, immortalised by Lewis Carroll, enjoy storytellling and family activities, and visit the ghost forest on the front lawn.
Lewis Carroll Society talks:
10.15 am Alice in Waterland by Mark Davies
An illustrated talk on the influence of the Thames, from the inception of the stories on that famous rowing trip in July 1862, to the final outing Alice made with Lewis Carroll in 1863, and in many of the books' episodes in between.
11.00am  The Dodo: from extinction to icon by Errol Fuller, author of The Dodo: extinction in paradise
11.30am  Carroll and Surrealism by Mark Richards, chair of the Lewis Carroll Soicety.
11.15am Storytelling: The 30-minute Alice by Adam Guillain.
Adam is a children's storyteller and author whose books include the popular Bella Ballistica series. He is a former primary teacher who runs drama and creative writing workshops and is a member of The Story Museum's team.
12.15pm The Curious Company re-enact the Mad Hatter’s tea party in cabaret style on the front lawn amongst the wondrous ghost forest.
12.30-1.30pm The Real Alice by Nick Mellersh, a performance about the life of Alice Liddell. This has been specially adapted for Alice's day from a script written for and first performed at the Lyndhust Alice festival.

Alice Shop
In Through the Looking Glass, Alice meets an old Sheep who is knitting and serving in a shop. Tenniel who illustrated the book, drew a mirror-image of a litle grocery shop in St Aldates. It is now Alice's Shop and sells Alice souvenirs.
Visit Alice Liddell’s favourite sweetshop, the ‘old sheep shop’ in the story, and collect a FREE bookmark for Alice's Day*. (*offer valid on 10th July 2010 while stocks last.)

Binsey Church
Visit the famous treacle well in the churchyard and come for the talks:
12pm Gerard Manley Hopkins & the Binsey Poplars by Martin Henig
2pm  Historic Fields of Binsey by Julian Munby
3pm Binsey Church 500 years ago by Fr Anthony Rustell

Blackwell Bookshop
Tuesday 6th July at 7pm: an Alice panel discussion
The panel includes Tyler Shores, a writer on Alice and philosophy; Mark Davies, a local historian; and Tigz Rice, a digital artist and illustrator who works primarily with photography, all of whom will offer different perspectives on Alice and her Wonderland. Tickets £2.
Jabberwocky Celebration on Alice's Day!
Sessions devoted to enjoying the greatest ever work of nonsense verse. Learn The Jabberwocky in entertaining workshops taking place throughout the day: recite, draw, and act out The Jabberwocky and enter the Jabberwocky competition!
Juggling, a unicyclist, fancy dress, live music, and a whole variety of entertainments and activities for both children and adults will be taking place throughout the day.
10.30am Festivities begin with music and juggling in Broad Street
11am Creative Songwriting Workshop with Matt Sage
12pm Juggling Fun with Jebb
12.30pm Celebrating the Jabberwocky!
1pm Craft-making and Dodo Hunt
1.30pm Storytelling and Games
2.15pm More Creative Songwriting Workshop with Matt Sage
3pm Curiouser and curiouser: drama workshop (see below)
4pm Celebrating the Jabberwocky - again!
In addition Tigz Rice, the artist whose 'Wonderland' exhibition can currently be seen in Caffe Nero on the first floor of the bookshop, will be appearing to answer questions and sign books from 2pm-3.30pm in Caffe Nero.
3pm Curiouser and curiouser: drama workshops
Oxford Playhouse offers 3 workshops across the city (also at the Museum of Oxford), all crammed with games and exercises to get 7-10 year olds exploring, engaging their imaginations and having a barrel of fun. Sign them up to spend a magical hour following in Alice's footsteps as they take a tumble down the rabbit hole and discover their very own wonderland. Age: 7-10 year olds. Duration: 1 hour.
Tickets: £5 per child, available from Oxford Playhouse Ticket Office 01865 305305

Central Library
2pm Wonderland storytime session and craft activity. 
A drop in event suitable for any age group.
Why not pop in beforehand and borrow one of the many versions of Alice's adventures? Or follow the Curious Company playing-card sentries from the library over to the castle for 3pm?

The Jam Factory
Fancy dress with a literary twist a Mad Hatter's lunch party. Come to a special Wonderland lunch as your favourite Alice in Wonderland costume and recite a nonsense poem or prose piece of your own invention. Prizes for best costume and best recital with thanks to Storypods.
11am for 11.15am parade of costumes.

Museum of Oxford
Wonderland Imagined: a hands-on interactive exhibition running from Saturday 3 July to Saturday 4 September 2010 featuring different interpretations of Lewis Carroll’s ‘Wonderland’, from local children to famous illustrators.
Make an Alice character hat or mask, follow the rabbit down the rabbit hole on a trail around the galleries, or even make your own Alice puppet show!
11 am & 1pm  Curiouser and curiouser: drama workshops
Oxford Playhouse offers 3 workshops across the city (the third at Blackwell Bookshop), all crammed with games and exercises to get 7-10 year olds exploring, engaging their imaginations and having a barrel of fun. Sign them up to spend a magical hour following in Alice's footsteps as they take a tumble down the rabbit hole and discover their very own wonderland.  Age: 7-10 year olds. Duration: 1 hour.
Tickets: £5 per child, available from Oxford Playhouse Ticket Office 01865 305305
2pm Alice in Waterland: a guided walk by local historian Mark Davies.
A free guided walk of approximately 90 minutes around Christ Church Meadow starting from the Museum of Oxford. The walk highlights the role of the River Thames in the creation of the Alice stories and as inspiration for some of the books' episodes, as well as references to other classic Oxford children's tales.
Places are limited to 20, and can be reserved in advance. 
3.45pm Storytelling: The 30-minute Alice by Adam Guillain.
Adam is a children's storyteller and author whose books include the popular Bella Ballistica series. He is a former primary teacher who runs drama and creative writing workshops and is a member of The Story Museum's team.

Oxford Castle
3pm Promenade theatre from the Curious Company.
The Red Queen and her playing-card soldiers will perform thirty minutes of improvised physical comedy in the Market Square.

Science Oxford
Wonderland Illusions 10am-4pm
Come down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass....
For the first time, Science Oxford’s Live’s Discovery Zone will be taking part in Alice’s Day. How do their exhibits link to Alice?
Normal entry charges apply £3 per person/£10 family.

St. Michael at the Northgate
4pm Concert:  Oxford welcomes Kristian Scheiblecker from Sweden to perform his new musical interpretations of Lewis Carroll's poetry. FREE
Throughout his life, Lewis Carroll read and composed poetry, enjoying the poems of key Victorian writers such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Christina Rossetti. From his youth, until the last years of his life, he wrote poetry – some just humorous nonsense, some filled with hidden meanings, and some serious poems about love and life.
(Edward Wakeling, The Lewis Carroll Society of London)

Tourist Information Centre
10.15am The Alice Tour, exploring Alice's Oxford, will incorporate a visit to Christ Church. Alice in Wonderland was inspired by Alice Liddell. She spent her early years in Oxford, and her friendship with Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, led to the writing of the two Alice books. Join this tour, with a special discounted rate for Alice's day, to explore their Oxford. Ticket price £3.00 aduts, £1.75 children.

The Perch Inn, Binsey
Enjoy a complimentary Victorian strawberry lemonade and spot the Alice memorabilia in the Wonderland garden.
Friday 9th July
The Perch hopes to screen Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in their Wonderland Garden. Watch this space for details.

other partners

• Lewis Carroll Society
• Oxford City Council
• Oxfordshire County Council
• Oxford Family Learning
• Oxford Inspires
• Oxford Playhouse
• Oxford Storypods
• Oxfordshire Theatre Company

Please keep visiting this page. We'll keep you informed as the programme unfolds further.