The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe

This was the first time I have seen this dramatised musical version of “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe”, here performed by Pleasure Folk Juniors and what a lovely, pleasurable experience it was. The show looks at the first book in that fabulous classic series “The Chronicles of Narnia” set in the land of Narnia and written by C.S. Lewis. The books have been popular for seven decades and in this adaptation of the story the music and lyrics are written by Irita Kutchmy and the show beautifully captures the feeling and drama of the books fantasy setting. The talented cast of young performers and the production team which included Director Gemma Briscoe, Musical Director Nancy Wells and Choreographer Liz Wainwright must have all worked very hard to produce this lovely enjoyable show. The story is about a family of four children Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy who are evacuated from wartime London during the blitz to stay in the country with a Professor Kirk, played by Alex Procter, who managed really well to pull off a very good characterization of an academic. The professor is the owner of a large historic house which attracts groups of visitors, who are reluctantly shown around by the no nonsense housekeeper called Mrs McCreedy, played very well with authority by Meg Clark. Whilst exploring the house, the children stumble across a wardrobe full of fur coats. Then, while on her own, Lucy investigates and finds that the wardrobe is a gateway to another world called Narnia. Maria Henriques was delightful and just right in the role of Lucy and produced an excellent performance. Narnia is under the spell of the wicked White Witch, played by Emily Mayne who made a very good baddie with a commanding performance and made her presence known whenever on stage.The Witch has turned Narnia into a permanent land of winter ice and snow and she has also banned Christmas. Lucy is lost in wonder in the strange world and has her first meeting with the kind-hearted talking faun Mr Tumnus, very nicely played by Tom McMahon, who really looked and acted the part. I am not sure what was used to raise Tom in height which made him walk like the character in the film, but it certainly worked. Mr Tumnus befriends Lucy and warns her about the Witch. Lucy then returns through the wardrobe and tells her brothers and sister about Narnia, but they do not believe her. Edmund, played with cheeky naughtiness and very good stage presence by Charlie Geldart, is the next to enter Narnia, but he is captured by the White Witch. When the Witch finds out Edmund has two sisters and a brother she worries that he and his siblings are part of the prophecy that says two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve will save Narnia from her rule, she persuades Edmund to become an informer and betray his siblings by promising unlimited supplies of Turkish Delight and the offer of being made a prince and her successor. On his return from Narnia, Edmund doesn’t confirm Lucy’s story to his older brother Peter - Matthew Roberts who is skeptical, and Susan - Olivia Salters who is protective and nurturing. Both of these young actors played their roles with lots of confidence and maturity. Suddenly, the four siblings need to hide from Mrs McCreedy, who was showing a group of people round the house and the only place available is the wardrobe with the result the four of them end up in Narnia. There they find themselves caught up in a struggle between good and evil. They are captured by the White Witch and are rescued by the mighty lion Aslan, who of course represents Christ and is integral to the story. Miles Gardner was very statesman like as Aslan the wise and powerful lion and is the true king of Narnia. They also meet Father Christmas who gives each of  the children a present which will be needed and prove invaluable to them in the forthcoming battle of Good versus Evil. 

I am sure this was not an easy show to produce and perform as there was  lots of dialogue as well as hard songs to sing. The numbers had some awkward timing and rhythms with complicated melodies, however the cast coped very well and there was lots of very good acting and strong performances, especially from the young actors playing the four central roles of Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edmund. I was very impressed with their clear diction meaning the story could be followed at all times. There were good entertaining performances from Harry Geldart as Mr Beaver and Ciara Kirwan as Mrs Beaver and lovely small cameo performances from Toby Wainwright as Maugrim, Eden Wainwright as Robin and Ethan Fleming as Dwarf.
The principle cast were  supported by two wonderful choruses namely the good chorus made up of cute lovely animal characters and an evil chorus which included malevolent and scary creatures. Both choruses performed with plenty of energy, singing nicely and executing the very good choreography which was suitable and tailored for all the ages on the stage by Choreographer Liz Wainwright. They were also a very important part of the success of the show.

Scenery and properties were just right and, along with technical input, added to the general feel of the production. There were smooth transitions between scenes meaning the pace of the show was just right, although there was a problem with one of the microphones, however the young actors using this particular microphone carried on regardless and didn’t let it affect their performance at all. Congratulations to stage manager Michael Chambers and all of his backstage crew and workers. Costumes and make up were excellent and very creative. I am sure a lot of thought and hard work had gone into getting them just right as they added to the authenticity and the feel of the production and I am sure the costumes helped the actors to get into character. The band included Musical Director Nancy Wells, with Ciara Patton, Emily Chappell and Steve Lockwood. They supported the cast on stage expertly and played just at the right level. It was lovely to have live music in a youth show.

The story affirms positive Christian values and looks at redemption through love and the sacrifice of Christ, however, I know that some of the audience may have no or different religious beliefs, but whatever their beliefs they all appeared to really enjoy the heartwarming story that was delightfully told by Pleasure Folk Jr. Congratulations to Gemma Briscoe and to all involved in bringing this lovely, enjoyable fantasy production to the stage. We had a wonderful evening.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

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