Alice in Wonderland 150th anniversary: events to celebrate in London

Whether it's a cuppa with the Mad Hatter or a quirky night of immersive theatre underneath Waterloo station, these are the events to get you grinning like the Chesire Cat
Eat me: the Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea at the Sanderson
Olivia Williams8 April 2015

Celebrate the 150th birthday of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland this year in suitably inventive and eccentric style. Those who fell in love with the psychedelic world that Lewis Carroll created for his young muse Alice Liddell tend to get hooked for life — and there are plenty of places around town where grown-up children can let their imaginations run riot all over again. Enjoy fantastical feasts, experimental screenings and thoughtful exhibitions in the company of the March Hare, Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts, and everyone's favourite pipe-smoking caterpillar. Curiouser and curiouser...

The night out: Alice's Adventures Underground

Dust off your Tweedle Dum costume for weekly evenings of storytelling, dance, circus, puppetry and live music in the atmospheric vaults underneath Waterloo station. Surrounded by dodos, flamingos and mock turtles, theatre group Les Enfants Terrible offer an immersive experience with flair, in which the audience piece together clues to find Alice, who is lost beyond the looking glass. There are over 20 rooms to explore, as well as an oversized Mad Hatter's tea table and three bars to hang out in, so you won't be reaching for your pocket watch til the early hours.

From April 9, The Vaults, Leake Street, SE1 7NN; alice-underground.com

Style icon: the Alice-inspired Baby the Stars Shine Bright by Kumiko Uehara at the Museum of Childhood (Picture: Victoria and Albert Museum)
Victoria and Albert Museum

The discussion: The Story of Alice

Robert Douglas-Fairhurst will be talking to BBC presenter and Alice enthusiast Martha Kearney about his richly detailed biography of Lewis Carroll and his relationship with his muse Alice Liddell. His cultural history also traces the life of Alice in Wonderland as a book, as its popularity spread from Victorian Oxford, where Carroll and Liddell met, to the backstage world of Edwardian London theatre, and the early days of Hollywood. Douglas-Fairhust, an English tutor at Oxford, will be exploring the real lives behind the iconic story and its enduring appeal over a century later.

April 31, Kings Place, 90 York Way, N1 9AG; kingsplace.co.uk

The exhibition: The Alice Look

This ambitious exhibition brings together clothes, photographs, rare editions and illustrations to show what a trendsetter the Alice character has been over the past 150 years. As well as showcasing her original Victorian look, the exhibits will display modern interpretations, such as Annie Liebowitz's US Vogue photographs and music videos by Gwen Stefani, Avril Lavigne and Aerosmith. Alice's whimsical charm has travelled well abroad and visitors will see Japanese, Swahili and French takes on Alice's famous blue dress, t-bar sandals, and red headband. The collection will make an entertaining afternoon for children and fashionistas alike.

May 2 - Nov 1, V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9PA; vam.ac.uk

Psychadelic: Alice is getting a musical make-over at the National Theatre

The one-man show: Crocodiles in Cream

This critically-acclaimed one-man show tells the story of Lewis Carroll himself though poetry, letters and diaries. With gentle humour, actor Kevin Moore gives the audience an insight into Carroll's life, both pre- and post-Alice, as he looks back as old man from his study at Christ Church, Oxford, where he taught logic. Take a child along on their summer holiday and you'll all leave grinning like Cheshire cats.

June 18, Clapham Omnibus, 1 Clapham Common Northside, SW4 0QW; crocodilesincream.com

The musical: Wonder.land

Head over to the National to watch Damon Albarn's new musical version of Carroll’s tale, with a script by British playwright Moira Buffini, who wrote Handbagged and Tamara Drewe. Albarn's Dr Dee: An English Opera was warmly received a few years ago, and this looks to be another fresh and original production. Opening at the Manchester International Festival, wonder.land will transfer to London in November before moving onto Paris next year. It follows the story of unhappy 12-year-old girl Aly, who is bullied at school, but finds herself growing in confidence online, where she meets a cast of familiar characters. They start appearing in her real life in subtle and unexpected ways, as Albarn plays with the idea of what 'falling down a rabbit hole' might mean in today's digital age. Booking opens in April.

From November, National Theatre, South Bank, SE1 9PX; nationaltheatre.org.uk

Eclectic: the window at the all-things-Alice shop Alice Through The Looking Glass

The shop: Alice Through The Looking Glass

This appropriately-eccentric shop dedicated to all things Wonderland is perhaps the only one in London to boast an adorable white rabbit living in the shop window. Sadly the rabbit is not for sale, but this Covent Garden boutique does offer clothes, prints, a delightful selection of first and early editions and iconography from the 1860s onwards. It's a one-stop shop to buy all the presents that you can think of for the Alice-lover in your life. Jake Fior, once a producer for Pete Doherty, decided to open Alice Through The Looking Glass after he found an antique chessboard which was hand-painting by original ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ illustrator Sir John Tenniel. You can buy gilded replicas of the chessboard, but they will set you back £3,500.

14 Cecil Court, WC2N 4HE; alicelooking.co.uk

The afternoon tea: Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea

Take your seat at the Mad Hatter's table for the Sanderson's decadent take on literature's strangest tea party. Menus are hidden inside vintage books, napkins wrapped with riddles, and bespoke crockery covered in kings and queens, birdcages, carousels and ticking clocks, to create a proper sense of occasion. Fruit jellies made in proper Victorian moulds and wheeled in on a cake trolley get things off to an exciting start. Then it's on to the sponge cakes, chocolates and mousses reading 'Eat Me', blueberry lollipops and hazelnut praline ice-cream. The pink champagne that doesn't need a 'Drink Me' tag for any further encouragement.

Daily, Sanderson Hotel, 50 Berners Street, W1T 3NG; morganshotelgroup.com

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