Recap: Massive Mad Hatter Tea Party at Tompkins Square Park

Say what you will about the Red Queen, but she certainly knows how to throw a party.

To some, New York always has — and hopefully always will be — a curiouser and curiouser place, particularly in the East Village. To prove the point, a “Massive Mad Hatter Tea Party” transformed Tompkins Square Park yesterday. Upon setting foot in the park, guests and unwitting visitors were transported to another time in the city (the early days of the Village Halloween Parade and Wigstock came to mind), a time when people hand made their own costumes, and the closest thing to a chain store was Woolworths.

The Tea Party (no, not THAT one) was gleefully thrown by “a loose amalgam of artists, musicians, writers, and adventurers” called the Free Art Society, “who periodically coalesce and occasionally coagulate for mysterious mystical happenings that lift spirits, alter consciousness and break down the barriers between artists and their community.” The group can definitely draw a crowd.

The performers included the Red Queen, the White Queen, and assorted Mad Hatters, along with knaves, butterflies, a falsetto-voiced Alice, and a killer marching band (the Raya Brass band). There was dancing, re-enacted scenes from the story, a human deck of cards, and of course, tea, punch, cupcakes and other sweets, provided by the group.

A highlight was when the group of women dressed as white roses were (literally) painted red by the Red Queens minions.

With one exception, no one lost their head. Led around the park by the Red Queen (who stayed in character throughout, ad libbing and cracking up the crowd), the crowd stopped in front of Humpty Dumpty, found swinging from a tree. Turns out that this Humpty was a pinata, upon which the neighborhood kids zealously went to town, trying to crack him open with a velvet swathed stick.

After ultimate success (with a little help from an adult butterfly and a few members of the royal court), candy spilled out everywhere, bringing cheers from adults and kids alike.

For those who didn’t have costumes, the Free Art Society held open workshops throughout the weekend, where anyone could pop by and make an outfit suitable for falling down the rabbit hole. Materials for the Arts donated fabrics, and the Lower East Side Girls Club, Two Boots, and Rooftop Films, among others, helped sponsor the event.

The Free Art Society believes that art should be “everywhere and nowhere you’d expect it.” Hey, it could happen. Alice said that she often believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. Passers by today, believed in a few more before dinner.

-Story and photos by Lori Greenberg