I first saw
Kevin Moore in Crocodiles in Cream some years ago in Covent Garden. It is a
one-man show written by David Horlock, drawing from Lewis Carroll's letters,
diaries, poems and stories. All the words are Lewis Carroll's, but the order and
juxtaposition is Horlock's. It is a masterful construction, bringing together
common themes that exist, but may otherwise be missed, in both Carroll's
domestic and his fantasy writings. It required a painstaking and sympathetic
author who knew his subject well.
The production is still fresh and compelling. Kevin Moore brings to the
performance a supreme command of the work and the stage. Utterly believable as
the confident writer but insecure man, he forces the audience through the humour,
the elation and the despair of Carroll's friendships with children and his
relationships with adults. He is able to chart the mood swings, gradual or
sudden, to make us laugh at jokes some of us know by heart, and enhance
Carroll's reputation while he confirms his own.
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