- Runs off with a suspicious stranger who offers her cake.
- Takes her siblings to Narnia in the full knowledge it'll put them and Mr Tumnus in danger.
- Is a PreCIOUs pRiNCEss.
Edmund:
- Runs off with a suspicious stranger who offers him Turkish Delight.
- Betrays his siblings only because he's enslaved by magic.
- Is a nasty little traitor who's probably going straight to Hell LOL.
Yes, it's one of the most famous stories of Christians living in the closet, C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe getting a new staging as the Bridge Theatre imports Sally Cookson's Leeds Playhouse production. And no, I'm not sure why I booked again to see a story I mainly grumble a lot about, except I probably quite like grumbling about it.
The audience is given evacuation papers as they enter the theatre, to join siblings Peter (Femi Akinfolarin,) Edmund (John Leader,) Lucy (Keziah Joseph) and the other one (Shalisha James-Davis) as they get evacuated from London to Scotland during the Blitz.
There first Lucy then the rest go through a magical wardrobe and end up in Narnia, an alternate universe ruled by Laura Elphinstone's White Witch, who's kept the kingdom in endless winter for 100 years. Narnia's true leader is the JesusLion Aslan (Wil Johnson,) who's essentially all-powerful and could have ended the winter at any time but, like, hasn't, so I'm not saying Lewis' religious allegory doesn't have moments I agree with. What was a refreshing surprise about Cookson and writer Adam Peck's take on the story is that its sympathies as regards the children lie more or less where mine do.
In past adaptations it's felt like everyone happily takes Peter's party line that Edmund is just a bit shifty because I say so, and that his actions, cast in the Judas role, really are an equivalent betrayal. Here it's kind-of acknowledged that Peter is pretty insufferably bossy, and since Edmund is a child who's just escaped the Blitz, his actions being primarily governed by fear and hunger isn't entirely surprising; as well as the fact that he met and was enslaved by the White Witch before knowing any better - a scene overtly suggesting the Turkish Delight is a hallucinogenic adds to the feeling that he doesn't deserve the vilification he usually gets. Lucy being the youngest she still gets a bit of a free pass, but it would still be fun just once to see Mr Tumnus (Stuart Neal) mention that yeah, he'd actually managed to stay safe thanks, right up until the point that she TURNED RIGHT BACK AND SAUNTERED BACK INTO THE PLACE MOMENTS AFTER HE RISKED HIS LIFE TRYING TO GET HER OUT OF THERE so thanks for that.
Visually the show is a lot of fun, Rae Smith's design using white sheets to create the snowy landscape, and everything from puppets, shadow puppets, pyrotechnics and acrobatics being used to tell the story; there's a slight chance C.S. Lewis didn't intend Aslan to be a Pride float, but as well as dealing with the religious allegory with about as light a touch as the story allows, there's definitely a feel of Cookson's vision for the story deliberately being a more 21st-century, inclusive one, even if it's only in little visual touches rather than in the story itself. Benji Bower's music largely provides effective atmosphere, although the characters actually break into song just infrequently enough for it to be weird. Overall this doesn't reinvent The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe enough for me to reevaluate the story itself but it does refresh it enough for me to enjoy it more than I usually do.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by Sally Cookson, Adam Peck and the Company, based on the novel by C.S. Lewis is booking until the 2nd of February at the Bridge Theatre.
Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes including interval.
Photo credit: Brinkhoff Moegenburg.
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