The historical life of Alice James -- the brilliant, troubled sister of novelist Henry James and psychologist William James -- will collide with the fantasy world of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" when the Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts and Sciences stages Susan Sontag's whimsical drama "Alice in Bed" Feb. 12-20 in the A. E. Hotchner Studio Theatre.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Feb. 12 and 13 and at 3 p.m. Feb. 14. The play continues the following week at 8 p.m. Feb. 18, 19 and 20.
"Alice in Bed" -- Sontag's only work written for the stage -- is a fictionalized account of James' final years. Though she shared her famous brothers' rigorous intellectual upbringing, James lacked an outlet for her talents and waged a life-long battle with depression. She confined herself to bed for the last seven years of her life, eventually dying of breast cancer at the age of 43. Sontag blends James' story with seemingly incongruous imagery borrowed from Lewis Carroll's children's classic "Alice in Wonderland."
"The play is about the life of the imagination that Alice creates for herself," said Andrea Urice, PAD artist in residence, who directs the 11-member cast. "Her real world is limited to her bedroom but in her mind she is able to venture into this imaginary dreamland where anything is possible.
"In some ways the play is a metaphor for the stifled potential of women, caught between limits that are sometimes societally dictated and sometimes self-imposed," Urice continued. "Like Carroll's Alice, Alice James was famously intelligent and inquisitive and yet not in control of her own destiny."
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But Urice also hastened to point out that the tone of Sontag's work, for all its weighty subject matter, remains slyly playful.
"Sontag keeps things very witty, very absurd and clever, and includes some wonderful imagery and ideas that go beyond specific gender issues," Urice said. "Ultimately her aim, in juxtaposing the life of the imagination with real life, is to show that, for all its pleasures, the life of the imagination is by itself not enough. In the end, life is characterized by doing."
The play's eight scenes alternate between James' bedroom and a series of imaginary locales -- a tea party, her father's library and limbo. Leland Orvis, PAD scene shop supervisor, designed the set.
The production stars senior Leah Frattalone. "It's an enormous role," Urice commented. "Alice is in the entire play while most of the other characters share only a scene or two with her. It's a great opportunity for a young actress."
Tickets are $10 for the general public, $8 for senior citizens and Washington University faculty, staff and students. Tickets are available at the Edison Theatre Box Office, 935-6543, and all MetroTix outlets, 534-1111. For more information, call 935-5858.
