The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe Is Stunning

A beautiful new version of the CS Lewis classic children’s book ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ transported the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre to Narnia last night, as we travelled throught the wardrobe with Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, to the land of ever lasting Winter. We experienced a stunning spectacle, with gorgeous performances and a host of new songs that sound like traditional English folk tunes. This may just be perfect half term entertainment for the whole family, but with a slightly dark undertone that prevents it from being cloying.

Plot

The four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, are transported to Scotland during WW2, stating with a kindly professor (Kraig Thornber with a wonderfully warm and witty performance.) There Lucy, whilst exploring, discovers a wardrobe which is a portal to a strange land of never ending Winter. She meets the lovely Mr Tumnus, who tells her she is in danger in this land, Narnia, and that she needs to return to safety. Once back, no one believes her story, but Edmund finds the same portal, encountering the evil White Witch, but falling under her spell due to a warm drink and Turkish delight. This leads to all the children travelling through the wardrobe where a clash with the white Witch is inevitable. The question is can the powerful lion Aslan avert death and disaster befalling the children?

Performances

This is a stunning piece of theatre performed by a talented ensemble cast. The children, Kudzi Mangombe, Bumni Osadolor, Joanna Adaran and Jesse Dunbar are all wonderful, warm and utterly believable as siblings. The White Witch, Katy Stevens, are suitably sinister and clashes in spectacular fashion with Aslan, personified with great presence by Stanton Wright.

The puppetry of the magnificent Aslan is excellent, as is the adorable cat Schrodinger. The staging throughout is clever, using darkness to great effect as we are transported from a dusty bedroom to snowy Narnia. This makes the whole show feel other worldly and magical throughout, truly exquisite.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

Until 1st November

Ticket information https://www.grandtheatre.co.uk/.

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