Narnia the Musical

This musical retelling of the C.S.Lewis classic children’s story “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” was a perfect vehicle to display the acting and musical talents of the young people taking part. The four Pevensie children at the heart of the story – Peter (Thomas McIntosh), Susan (Maia Reed), Lucy (Sarah Smith), Edmund (Angus Freeman) – all gave very strong performances but particularly Lucy and Edmund in the portrayal of their sibling love/hate relationship. Sean Farmerey, in the joint roles of the children’s Uncle Professor Digory Kirke and Aslan the Great Lion, true Ruler of Narnia, gave an excellent performance. He brought out equally the compassionate and powerful aspects of Aslan’s character in both his acting and singing. Ciara Hendry’s abrupt housekeeper Mrs Macready set up her transformation to the icy-cold White Witch beautifully. In the latter role she played the evilness of the character so well that you almost wanted to boo her at the walk down! Stealing every scene they appeared in were Niro Paulino and Anna Seaman as the bustling Mr & Mrs Beaver – their bickering eliciting much laughter from the audience. Strong support was given by Anna Thompson (Mr Tumnus), Ellie Robertson (a graceful White Stag), Georgia Craik (Dwarf the White Witch’s aide) and of course Father Christmas. The large ensemble of woodland creatures moved and sang well. Some of the score was not easy and I was particularly impressed by the acapella section in Act 2. The costuming of the ensemble was simple but gave enough so that each character was identifiable. Good use was made of the multi-level set designed by Susan Begg and by the use of atmospheric lighting the changes between the locations and seasons was well represented. Congratulation to all involved for an excellent show.

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