‘Some Journey’s Take us Far From Home, Some Adventures Lead Us to Our Destiny’ The Lion, Witch & Wardrobe, The Gillian Lyne Theatre, London 06.01.2023
Rose Reviewer Harri Douglas kick started her 2023, with her first viewing in London this year! The lucky show was The Lion Witch & Wardrobe! lets see what she thinks:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is possibly my all-time favourite book from my childhood, and
when I saw it advertised at the Gillian Lynne theatre I knew instantly I couldn’t miss it. That being
said I cut it very fine, getting my tickets for the penultimate night that it was on (and yet another
train strike day). This version was first shown at Leeds Playhouse in 2017 and seems to have gone
from strength to strength.
A richly imaginative fantasy story written by C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is set
in the 1940s during World War Two. Brothers and sisters Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are sent
out of London during the blitz to stay in a large house in the countryside with an eccentric professor.
Whilst exploring, Lucy enters a wardrobe and finds herself in the magical world of Narnia, with
mythical beasts and talking animals. When Peter, Susan and Edmund join her, they must fulfil the
prophecy and help the Narnians defeat the White Witch and end the long winter.
As you can imagine, this is a lot to fit on one stage. There are multiple switches between the country
house and the snowy world of Narnia. I was excited to see how they would pull it off. The answer?
Great staging, beautiful costumes and amazing puppetry, from the creative genius of Tom Paris (Set
and Costume Designer) and Max Humphries (Puppetry Design). The puppet Aslan is simply stunning,
and there are some beautiful costume quirks; for example, the beavers’ tails are in fact old style
snowshoes. The White Queen’s dress is awe inspiring, particularly when she is lifted into the air with
snow falling around her.
But I have jumped ahead a bit. Our four stars – Ammar Duffus as Peter, Robyn Sinclair as Susan,
Shaka Kalokoh as Edmund, and Delainey Hayles as Lucy – capture the essence of their characters
beautifully. Peter is courageous, Susan is kind, Lucy is brave, and Edmund is selfish. I always
remember hating Edmund as a child, and Shaka Kalokoh manages to make him thoroughly
unlikeable – sulky, greedy and a little cruel, particularly to Lucy. Samantha Womack embodies the White Queen perfectly (personally I think even better than Tilda Swinton in the most recent film); fierce and cold as I always imagined her to be. Her voice is commanding, an equal match for Chris Jared as Aslan, who was giving off definite Thorin Oakenshield (from The Hobbit) vibes.
The performance I was most pleasantly surprised by was Johnson Willis as Professor Kirk. I was
expecting quirky but he was completely hysterical, making the entire audience laugh out loud for the
majority of the time he was on the stage in that role. Although it is a play not a musical, there are some great songs to enjoy with energetic dancing from the ensemble. The appearance of Santa Claus and his company of reindeer is good fun, and the animals singing ‘The Lion Walks’ is very moving.
Is it suitable for children? Perhaps a silly question when it’s based on a children’s story. There were
plenty of children in the audience, but not too young and for good reason. It’s quite long – with a run
time of 2h 30min – so probably not great for little ones with short attention spans. There are also
some quite dark scenes. Aslan’s death, where he is surrounded by the Witch’s Cruels, which have
large, puppet head skulls hanging above the performers, might cause a few nightmares.
I thought this production was completely magical and so creative. Honestly, I wish I’d seen it earlier
to try and catch it a second time.
Sadly, this run of The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe finished on 8 January 2023, but I’ll definitely
be keeping an eye out in 2023 for an announcement about its return! It makes for a nostalgic
Christmas treat, so fingers crossed it will be back before
