Alice in Wonderland with live score by Kasinda and Agaracha Orchestra

Presented as part of Silent Cinema with Live Scores, prepare to be transported to Wonderland in this enchanting early film adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s beloved story, featuring live original score by Kasinda.

A treat for music-lovers and cinephiles alike, Silent Cinema with Lives Scores continues to be the best-kept secret of Open Air at the Square.

For the penultimate evening of our weeklong curated program of silent cinema concerts, we have W.W. Young’s Alice in Wonderland – one of the earliest feature-length adaptations Carroll’s novels, drawing on both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

Starring 15-year-old Viola Savoy as Alice, the film follows her journey from a quiet afternoon beside the river into a strange and fantastical dreamworld populated by talking animals, curious creatures and playing cards.

The film brings the beloved story’s surreal characters and encounters to life through elaborate costumes, theatrical sets and early cinematic effects.

This screening will be accompanied by a live original score by Nigerian-Dutch-Australian multidisciplinary artist and composer Kasinda, and performed by the eight-piece Agaracha Orchestra.

‘Agaracha’ means ‘to come home’ in Igbo, the language of Kasinda’s Nigerian ancestral tribe. Led by Kasinda, the Agaracha Orchestra draws on Kasinda’s Nigerian and Dutch heritage, exploring cultural contrasts and unexpected connections through a distinctive fusion of western classical and West African musical traditions. The nine-piece ensemble brings together strings, woodwinds, percussion and jazz influences, combining classical harmonies with West African rhythms.

For Alice in Wonderland, this rich and cross-cultural musical language meets Carroll’s world of transformation, absurdity and wonder.

Bring a picnic blanket or settle into a deckchair, and journey with us through the history of silent cinema, with a weeklong program exploring the fantastic and the phantasmic – brought once again to life, with reimagined soundscapes.

Dir. W.W. Young | 1915 | 52 mins | USA | English titles

This event is presented as part of Open Air at the Square.