Magical design by Ken Harrison and powerful story-telling from director Mark Thomson bring out much that is good in Glyn Robbins’ plot-laden adaptation of CS Lewis. Individual scenes work very well and the establishment of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy as Second World War evacuees is concisely done - yet the whole feels crammed.
Technically, the production does everything necessary to transform a Victorian mansion into a winter-laden world, peopled from a hotchpotch assortment of myths. The beasts are elegantly portrayed by the Lyceum’s youth theatre members.
Amy McAllister is supremely innocent as Lucy and her encounter with David Lucas’ knowing, yet never threatening, Mr Tumnus is a treat of revelation. Meg Fraser’s dangerously hearty White Witch is humorous enough in her meeting with Neil Thomas’ angry young Edmund to make her later killing of Aslan (Daniel Williams) a moment of real shock.
The real problem is that this is tenuous Christmas material. The children bring not Christmas to Narnia, but spring, and the Christian allegory (not too clunkily imposed here) more suitable to Easter. The elements are there - transformation, good triumphing over evil in a big, well-staged battle and Father Christmas doling out magic presents - there’s just too much story to let it breathe.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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