Introduction

I have just recently graduated from Concordia University in Montreal, where I studied in their theatre department (a place which I will dearly miss, a place in which I grew up in many ways, a place filled with some of the most wonderful and creative people anywhere). On June 20 I recieved my BFA in Playwriting and ta, da: became a university graduate. Although I studied Montreal, a city which has become a second home, I was born and raised in Ottawa. That's right, Canada's capital and contrary to popular belief- a city with a vibrant and growing arts scene. I'm also an alumni of Canterbury high school, which I attended for their own of a kind literary arts program, named number one arts highschool in Canada by Macleans. I have returned here to work, at a berry farm, where I sell baskets to people who want to pick their own strawberries (a phenonmen that I've only ever seen in Ottawa). It's easy, I get to spend the summer outside, and it allows me to earn some money while looking for work in theatre or in the case of The Wonderland Project create theatre of my own.

I am a playwright (hence the degree), a director, a stage manager and even an occasional actor. "Almost Wonderland" has had a long journey of creation, development, production. I originally wrote it in grade 11 at Canterbury for an independent study, it moved on to win a Carleton University Creative Writing Award for drama (incidentally the same year Canterbury's literary arts students claimed all the cash prizes), has been produced at the 2002 Youth Infringment Festival at Ottawa's Arts Court and the 2003 Canterbury Arts Fest. It was the play that I submitted as my portfolio for playwriting at Concordia, and has undergone a number of drafts. Running under 45 minutes, it's a piece that I'm dreaming of taking on a Fringe tour. At it's heart it's about the relationship between Charles Dodgson, who wrote under the pen name Lewis Carroll, and Alice Liddell, the young girl who inspired both Alice books. It's the difference between the Victorian world and Wonderland, the latter of which is just beyond the keyhole. Besides Alice and Dodgson the cast list includes Alice's father, the Dean of Christ Church College at Oxford (where Dodgson is a lecturer in mathematics), Alice's sisters Lorina & Edith, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter & March Hare (which are played by the sisters). Canadian poet Stephanie Bolster, whose Governor General's awarding winning book "White Stone/The Alice Poems" partly inspired the play calls "Almost Wonderland": "both enchanting and disturbing, as it should be".

My dad's home in Ottawa, just recently moved to, has a big gorgoeus backyard, about 10 minutes downtown by bus, in the heart of the city with a perfect yard for theatre. Perfect for my "Almost Wonderland." Complete with it's own rabbits. Hence the birth of the Wonderland project. I intend to find a cast, and rehearse around my schedule at the berry farm and people's summer plans for a performance run outside at some point in September; whenever the the Indian summer falls. It's the perfect backyard, and the images I'm getting are threatening to overflow my mind. The performance will be free, but donations are welcome, hats will be passed afterwards. Stay tuned to http://www.wonderlandproject.blogspot.com/ for more to come!

Mary Davidson