Theatre Review - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
MICHAEL Fentiman’s stunning production of CS Lewis’s classic (based on Sally Cookson’s original stage version) draws out its darker aspects and captivates from the very first moment. During the Second World War, four siblings are evacuated to the country. They end up living with an eccentric professor (Johnson Willis). Lucy (Delainey Hayles), the youngest, disappears though the wardrobe to another world where she meets kindly faun Mr Tumnus (Jez Unwin). Her brother Edmund (Shaka Kalokoh) follows but pretends that the ice-clad Narnia does not exist. Finally, the two eldest siblings Peter and Susan (Ammar Duffus and Robyn Sinclair) make it through the wardrobe. They must save Edmund from the evil clutches of The White Witch (a brilliant performance by understudy Rachel Dawson on the night I went) and save Narnia from eternal winter. They are helped by the majestic lion, Aslan; a giant puppet (operated by Oliver Grant, Sean Lopeman and Shaun McCourt) and played by Chris Jared with resplen