Left to Right; Dawson Rutledge as Edmund, Shea O’Connor as the White Witch (from Kaleidoscope’s website)

Friday night I attended the opening night of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, on now until December 26th at the Roxy Theatre. These much-loved books by C.S. Lewis were childhood favourites of mine. Who can forget the magical entrance into Narnia through the back of a wardrobe, and the adventures that awaited the Pevensie children, Lucy, Susan, Peter and Edmund. They have been sent away from London during the Blitz, and are staying with a kindly professor named Digory Kirke in the country. One day, as Lucy is exploring the old house, she finds herself walking through a wardrobe full of old fur coats that leads her into the magical kingdom of Narnia. She meets a faun, Mr. Tumnus, who invites her home for tea. There she learns that the kingdom is cursed by the White Witch, who keeps Narnia in perpetual winter. Lucy returns home, with only a minute having passed by.

She tells her siblings what has happened, and brother Edmund goes into Narnia himself. There, he encounters the White Witch, who lures him into treachery with Turkish Delight. He returns home, but brings his siblings back, to find that Mr. Tumnus has been taken by the White Witch. The children befriend Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who tell them that Narnia’s former leader, the great lion Aslan, is returning to defeat the witch. They go to meet Aslan, who sacrifices himself to the White Witch in order to save Edmund’s life. But he is resurrected due to the “Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time”, and he and his army, with the Pevensie children, defeat the White Witch. The Pevensie children sit on the four thrones of Narnia and rule for many happy years. One day, they see the lamppost in the forest and go back through the wardrobe, finding that no time has passed and they are children once again.

This 45 minute adapted version of the novel, was written for two actors by Le Clanché du Rand and premiered off-Broadway in 2011. Artistic Director of Kaleidoscope, Pat Rundell, directs a fine production here. The set is quite wonderful, featuring many doors that serve in multiple ways throughout the show. Both actors play multiple roles (of course), and were very effective in portraying these roles and shifting between them. Shea O’Connor makes Lucy very appealing, but it’s also fun to see her morph into the villainous witch. Dawson Rutledge plays Peter, Edmund, Mr. Tumnus and Aslan, and also operates the beaver puppet, so is kept very busy! He is an appealing performer, and I enjoyed his work. The show is lit well by Rebekah Johnson, with Emily Friesen doing a great job designing the set, props and costumes, Aidan Dunsmuir creating the sound design, and Alexander Brendan Ferguson giving us original compositions. Recommended. Tickets are available here: https://kaleidoscope.bc.ca/shows/lww/.