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Allison McKenzie (White Witch), Nuno Silva (Aslan), David Albury (Aslan Puppeteer) and James Charlton (Aslan Puppeteer). Pictures: Graeme BraidwoodThe Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Birmingham Rep
**** C S LEWIS’S wintery world of kings,
queens, talking animals, a wicked witch, battles and betrayal, all
discovered at the back of an old wardrobe has been a firm children’s
favourite novel since it first appeared in 1950. Then, set in 1940 with four children being
evacuated to the country in 1940 from the Blitz, the Second World War
and evacuees would have still been very real in people’s minds, now it
is rather quaint, perhaps adding to the mystical world Lewis created. So Susan and Lucy Pevensie, played by Emilie
Fleming and Leonie Elliot and older brother Peter and surly sibling
Edmund, played by Michael Lanni and James Thackery, arrive at the
rambling country pile of the kindly professor –we never did catch his
name – played in avuncular fashion by Charles Armstrong. The house is run, efficiently and sternly by Mrs
MacCready played by Allison McKenzie who reappears beyond the wardrobe’s
macs and mothballs as the White Witch of Narnia where she displays a
voice which could break anvils and curdle milk when she is angered or
disobeyed – you just had to love her. The real world of the Prof’s house is all rather
flat, literally, two dimensional and dull as a rainy Sunday holiday
afternoon, which might make the world of Narnia filling the vast acreage
of stage behind seem all the more magical and real, but does nothing to
raise the interest levels in front. Lucy is the first to discover Narnia and no one,
except the Prof will believe her. Then Edmund finds it by accident while
looking for Lucy and makes a pact with the devil, or at least the White
Witch, who is probably worse, and then denies its existence. That boy is
not to be trusted having sold the lives of his friends and siblings and
the future of Narnia fo Finally, all four, hiding from one of Mrs
MacCready’s guided tours, stumble through the wardrobe and straight into
the battle for not only Narnia but their very lives, good against evil.
Leading the forces of good is Aslan the lion, a
giant three man operated puppet on nodding terms with Joey from War
Horse. He might be the leader of the Narnia Liberation Front and old
Aslan might have size on his side but he is a bit staid and short on
charisma, dull even, although you can’t really knock him when he gives
his own life to save that of the treacherous Edmund. To be honest, given the choice, the old White
Witch is much more fun, as long as you don’t mind being turned to stone
if you upset her of course. She has her own entourage of a pack of
wolves, which are cleverly animated puppets, for secret police, strange
antlered creatures who pull her sleigh and another clever puppet of a
dwarf who is the White Witch’s sleigh driver and a loyal servant who
could possibly be Gollum’s long lost twin. There are plenty of imaginative puppets in the
production and, as with War Horse, it is remarkable how quickly you
ignore the human puppeteers and see only the creatures. And amid the pupets we also had human creatures,
if you see what I mean, such as Jo Servi as the fawn Mr Tumnus, a spy of
the witch who risks his life to save Lucy. Then there are the fun Mr and Mrs Beaver, a bit like Pop and Ma Larkin, played by Thomas Aldridge and Sophie Nomvete, who has a fine, rich singing voice incidentally. Despite the snowy scene the pair bring some real
warmth and humour to the story as they lead us towards the final battle
for Narnia, which in truth as all a Lewis’s story has been examined for its religious
undertones, an allegory of the story of Christ, a battle of good and
evil, a betrayal of brothers and sisters and the leader Aslam by Edmund
and of course Aslam sacrifice to save the sins of the world, or at least
the miserable little toad Edmund.
But Adrian Mitchell’s 2008 adaptation dwells on
none of that and concentrates of producing a rollicking children’s
adventure of goodies and baddies with the good guys winning in the end. Jamie Vartan’s design is clever; creating a
normal world and a fantasy frozen wasteland on the same stage is always
going to be a challenge. He adds to the illusion with steady snow
falling on the Narnia of permanent winter with no Christmas, although
Father Christmas does pop up as the witch’s power starts to fade and
vast white sheets cunningly slide away to reveal grass and flowers as
spring appears was a nice touch. The Beaver’s house, and stone table on lifts were
also imaginative additions creating new sets on the fly and it was all
helped by clever lighting from Colin Grenfell. I swear there was a chill
swept through the audience every time we were taken to the bleak, snowy
wastes of Narnia. A splendid seven-piece orchestra under Neil
MacDonald playing Shaun Davey’s music all added to the evening and Tessa
Walker’s direction kept everything moving along nicely. So with a strong cast and direction, clever
puppets from Jo Larkin and Mervyn Millar, imaginative, well-lit set and
a production beautifully presented all the elements were there – except
one. There was no emotional involvement or charm. Apart from the
wonderful Beavers, it was all a bit too intense and serious, too proper
to connect with the characters, but from the cheers that greeted the end
kids loved it so who am I to moan. The age recommendation, incidentally, is six
plus. The Rep’s Christmas offering is not particularly scary, its more
an adventure tale, so a good age guide would be to ask yourself if your
child is old enough for the book as the play follows the narrative
closely. To 16-01-16 Roger Clarke
26-11-15 Another point of view - Second review
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r
a packet of Turkish Delight.
bit low key although there were some nice touches of theatrical trickery
such as the splitting of the stone table which Aslan then repaired with
the touch of a paw and, best of all, the lion’s disappearance from under
a sheet after his supposed death at the hands of your friendly
neighbourhood wicked witch.