Staging Sexual Assault: Performing Childhood Trauma in Alice in Wonderland

This essay examines a staged production of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland reimagined through the lens of childhood sexual assault. Primarily, it serves as a pedagogical case study of theoretical and practical approaches for conceptualizing, staging, and reflecting on performance as activism. Incorporating the director’s/author’s own voice, alongside that of the cast, it creates the possibility for understanding sexual assault and theatrical creation with greater nuance and urgency, while also illustrating the work of directing in the same light as critical performative pedagogy.