Letters to Little Girls

Letters to Little Girls is a musical performance, based on Lewis Carroll’s letters to his juvenile friends. Lewis Carroll was a charismatic personality. He was a writer of children’s literature, a mathematician at Christ Church College and one of the first ever photographers. There are many questions concerning his sexual preferences.

He was accused of being sexually interested in little girls, although there was never any proof of such accusations.It all started with the disappearance of three volumes of his personal diaries which gave rise to such kind of speculations. The performance attempts through Lewis Carroll’s work to show the hypocrisy of the Victorian era and through this to make a comment for todays ethics. So the crucial question is who makes the rules ?

First the verdict, then the sentence, writes Lewis Carroll, in Alice in Wonderland. It shouldn’t be this way, says Alice, furious.

In this project there are two performers on stage, (one actor-musician and one sound engineer) who are surrounded by a small sound system. Two microphones, one looper, two computers, a keyboard, two to six speakers on stage, prerecorded music and live sound processing are the main elements of this show. The lyrics of the songs performed live, are written by the author himself. The visual part of the show, are Lewis Carroll’s black and white photographs of the little girls,displayed by an overhead projector on a white surface. During the show, the performer puts various small objects on the photos (alphabet letters, baby shoes, stickers).

With a few gadgets , through a minimalistic approach, we are transferred in Lewis Carroll’s magical laboratory of memories, emotions, images and sounds. The basic concept of this audiovisual system is based on sound sources ( midi musical instruments, microphones) and speakers which create audio Spots. The creative use of technology combined with psychoacoustic experience, are vital elements of this performance.

Concept – Direction – Music – Sound Design : Violet Louise
Assistant Director – Collaborator in Μovement : Pauline Huguet
Collaborator in Μovement: Xara Kotsali

Audio Engineering – Sound Design assistance: Aris Pavlidis