Crocodiles in Cream: A Portrait of Lewis Carroll,
The Exchange, Sturminster Newton

A fascinating insight into the writer's often-disturbing private realm.

Superbly portrayed by Kevin Moore, Carroll is revealed as a brilliant, but complex man whose interest in photographing young girls strikes a jarring note to modern ears.

David Horlock's deft script - based on Carroll's diaries and letters, as well as his published work - sees Moore skip dizzyingly between a portrait of the author's reality and his published work.

The effect is to show a man in flight from reality.

The set for this one-man show was elegantly simple - a rug, chair, desk, and tripod for his box camera the only props needed to illustrate his private realm.

Moore's readings are superb. The Mock Turtle's serenade to beautiful soup is delivered in an amusing baritone, while the Griffen's exhortations see the actor screw up his eyes, raise his upper lip to reveal his teeth, and take on a fussy, nasal tone.

He is word perfect throughout the two-act, 90 minute show. Given Carroll's celebrated word play and idiosyncratic characters, that's a considerable achievement.