Lewis Carroll Resources: Savile Clarke Alice Productions

Amongst all of the stories for children, Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is possibly the most beloved, still just as treasured now than it was when it was first published in 1865. It may surprise the reader to learn, however, that it was only until over twenty years had passed that the first musical adaption was written about the play in 1886. The man Lewis Carroll chose to collaborate with was Henry Savile Clarke, a former Durham School student. 

Henry Savile Clarke attended Durham School from 1854 to 1859. When he was at Durham School, he was only known as 'Henry Clarke'; the Savile middle name came later, for unknown reasons. He had three children named Katherine, Clara and Margaret with his wife Helen, so would have been used to the sphere of children's stories that Carroll inhabited. He was not, however, a household name; the first letter that Carroll sent to Clarke included the postscript "Kindly tell me what plays, etc., you are author of. I am very ignorant of names of dramatic authors." Instead, he had contributed articles to the Theatre journal as well as for Punch. The 1st May 1889 issue of The Theatre provided a brief biographical overview of Savile Clarke that stated he began in the field of medicine before taking to journalism, writing for the Edinburgh Courant under editors James Hannay. He would go on to be an editor of the Court Circular and the London dramatic critic of the Scotsman. Amongst his plays were A Tale of a Telephone, An Adamless Eden, and The New Rip Van Winkle. 

On the 28th August 1886 Clarke sent a letter to Carroll, asking his blessing for his dramatization of Alice in Wonderland. Carroll responded with approval, noting the condition that no "coarseness, or anything suggestive of coarseness, be admitted." He further stated that only either Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking-Glass be adapted, but not both (a ruling which Savile Clarke would ultimately break) and that in the case of the parody songs in the original text (such as 'How Doth the Little Crocodile', which takes the metre and form of 'How Doth the Little Busy Bee') "the old air should be used."

Lewis Carroll has several requirements for who should play Alice ("Whatever you do, don't get an Alice that drops her H's!") but ultimately decided on the child actress Phoebe Carlo, was performing at the time in a production of The Duchess. 

As the Carroll and Clarke collaboration continued, it emerged that Carroll was a very prickly and demanding artistic presence. He insisted that the dialogue of the book remain untouched. Carroll would send pages and pages of corrections, going through the script line by line. Some suggestions Carroll made were ultimately dismissed. In a long letter written on the 31st October 1886 Carroll suggested a number of changes, including making the play three hours long with an intermediary adaptation of The Hunting of the Snark, and providing Phoebe Carlo with a costume of his own design. Unfortunately, Clarke's response has been lost to history, but when Carroll wrote back on the 2nd November it implies that many of his ideas were dismissed: "I will now execute that beautiful strategic movement known as 'giving way all along the line' & withdraw my suggestions 'en masse', the 'dress' question included. Amateurs have no business to put in their oar; it only spoils things.

" Much of Alice in Wonderland follows the poems and songs of the book (Jabberwocky, the Walrus and the Carpenter, the Lobster Quadrille) with a few original songs. A duet between Alice and the Cheshire Cat, for example, runs thusly: 

"Cheshire Puss, my thanks to thee,

For the things you've told to me, 

You've such information rare,

No cat with you can compare, 

How I wish my Dinah, Too, 

Could converse as well as you, 

For your answers come so pat, 

You're a wondrous Cheshire Cat." 

Carroll initially approached Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert & Sullivan fame) for the score, but that discussion unfortunately fell through. Clarke and Carroll instead collaborated with another Victorian composer named Walter Slaughter, who despite his name was known for his musical comedy. 

The play finally opened on December 23rd 1886 at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London. It met with enthusiastic response from the audience and good reviews from the critics. The play would go on to tour for several months and be revived for the 1888-1889 season; it eventually became one of the selection of staple plays and pantomimes performed around Christmas. 

It is thanks to Henry Savile Clarke that so many beloved versions of Alice in Wonderland have been made, from the Disney animated classic in 1951 to the 1972 musical film. His work is truly a testament to the many varied walks of life Durham School students have had.