The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - Leeds Playhouse - The Reviews Hub (2024)

Based on the original production by Sally Cookson

Original Writer in the Room: Adam Peck

Music: Barnaby Race and Benji Bower

Director: Michael Fentiman

Kicking off the festive season, we wandered through the wardrobe into the magical realm of Narnia, via the Quarry Theatre at Leeds Playhouse…

The show opens with a rousing rendition of We’ll Meet Again, a sobering reminder of the turmoil of Britain in the 1940s. We soon meet siblings Edmund (Bunmi Osadolor), Peter (Jesse Dunbar), Lucy (Kudzai Mangombe) and Susan (Joanna Adaran) who are sent off to the country as part of the wartime evacuee program. It’s in their new home that they meet an eccentric professor, and ultimately discover the portal to Narnia through an innocuous wardrobe in the spare room.

The four children are in fact not children here, but adult actors. They are youthful though, and capture childlike excitement and innocence well. The siblings are perhaps less distinct in personality than in the film and television versions – and none stand out especially above each other – but they work well as a family unit. Their relationships are believable, and the bickering relatable.

Alfie Richards plays Mr Tumnus the Faun, and has a genuinely caring and almost fatherly instinct towards Lucy. We feel his pain as he wrestles with his conscience under orders of the Witch. He excels with beautiful vocals in the bittersweet song When There Was Spring. Mr and Mrs Beaver (Ed Thorpe and Anya De Villiers) help progress the plot and guide the children to Aslan. Thorpe’s Mr Beaver adds comic relief, especially when experiencing deep shame. De Villiers Mrs Beavers is the mumsy leader of the resistance, and plays the role with a real feistiness.

Katy Richards as Jardis The White Witch gives a brr-illiant performance. No frosty reception here; she’s deliciously dark and will have younger audience members cowering at points. Her minions are the stuff of nightmares too, especially the wolf-like Maugrim who leaps around on hand-stilts. Shane Anthony-Whiteley plays the beast with real menace, and engages in some slick stage combat with the siblings.

Santa appears briefly to gift useful tools to our young heroes-to-be, and is accompanied by cavorting reindeer. Nothing corporate or ‘Coca Cola’ here though, St Nick is presented tastefully whilst still being suitably jolly and rotund. Kraig Thornber shows versality in playing Santa, the Professor and the Wise Owl – and is likeable and endearing as each.

Aslan’s reveal is a long time coming but worth the wait. He prowls the stage with feline precision, and it’s easy to forget that we are watching a puppet – a testament to the puppetry team. His human counterpart (Stanton Wright) – in a majestic mane of a fur coat – didn’t have the rich tonal voice one expected. However, Wright’s more understated Aslan is refreshing, and he plays the lion with more heart than grandeur.

Puppetry features throughout, and a puppet cat (Schrödinger) gets laughs with well-timed meows. In Narnia, other animals are portrayed by a mix of actors and puppets, and the variety works well. Speaking of variety, this is a show with song, dance, live music, puppetry, aerial work and even illusion.

Chris Fisher is illusion consultant, and the effects are executed well. Theatrical magic should blend seamlessly with the action, and not come across as ‘tricks’. The audience were suitably spellbound here, with audible gasps at one effect that this reviewer won’t spoil. Jack Knowles’ lightning helps hide some of the trickery, and his design is striking and bold throughout. Transitional scenes such as passing through the wardrobe, train travel and changing seasons are all enhanced by Knowles’ artistry.

The design across all areas is second to none. There are many inventive moments; from a train sequence where luggage becomes carriages, to a trippy fever-dream with giant cubes of Turkish Delight. Costumes by Tom Paris are excellent too, whether the grandeur of the Witch’s plush robes, or the subtle animal elements of the non-human roles.

Whilst the production features songs, think more folk music than musical theatre. A motley band plays everything live, and the audience hang on every note – led by Musical Director Ben Goddard. Levels are well balanced, and the talent on display is inspiring. Santa even plays the spoons!

C.S. Lewis’ iconic tale remains just as relevant and enchanting today, and this production is ideal as an alternative to the many pantomimes this festive season. Whilst not laugh-a-minute like a panto, your reviewer’s children (8 and 11) were gripped.

Unlike Oliver last year and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2023, this production is not new to Leeds Playhouse. It opened in 2017 in Leeds, toured in 2021 and will tour again next year. Plenty of opportunities to open the wardrobe, push past the fur coats and experience the magic for yourself.

Runs until 25 January 2025