Mirror Magazine

There are entire universes that bump along the edges of our world, tied to our reality by the lightest of bonds, the flimsiest of ties. Such lands – magical and tantalising – are not places one can simply go to, instead they must be stumbled upon; in a rabbit hole, under a hill, in a forest or in the back of a wardrobe, they lie in wait for you.

To try and capture the magic of such a land – in words, in music, in a play and on a stage – is both unimaginably demanding and praiseworthy at the same time. Flowery language aside, even the thought of Narnia – (the musical) would have any fan gasping in amazement… and believe you me, I am a fan and have been for years. So here I am – gasping!

I’m drifting around in this mindset when I get to S. Thomas’ college on a rainy Monday night. Much to my disappointment, the organisers have very sensibly decided to take the play indoors, and we are to be deprived of the delights of the chapel. This is soon forgotten, however, as the lights dim, the audience hushes, and we all savour that moment of ripe expectation just before the production begins.

It takes me only moments to relax – the acting is quite good. Edmund, (Mario Attanayake) in particular is great – gloriously whiny and snotty. It’s all you can do not to egg on Peter (Ranshan Gomez) to give ‘im a ‘ard one of de noggin’. Lucy (Played by Dinel Dias and Anushka Samarasinghe, with Dinel performing on Monday) is adorable – her innocence and goodwill to all mankind (among whose number it is our misfortune to include Edmund) simply shining through. Susan (Shehan Gomez) finishes the four, and is immediately more likable than her silver-screen counterpart.

So there we have it – the four children, the dotty professor (Andrew Alphonsus), the very, very scary housekeeper, Mrs. McReady (Jurinex Shadrach) and of course a house with a personality – the stage is set. When the children begin their game of hide and seek, and Lucy heads towards the wardrobe, the play has its audience on the edge of their seats. What follows is a depiction of one of the most beloved scenes in all of children’s literature – Lucy steps into the wardrobe, and finds herself in the magical, snowbound land of Narnia.

There are some things that always give away the involvement of an experienced professional. The innovative stage set up was it. Multiple layers, different entrances, pieces that projected out into the audience, all played their part and were beautifully orchestrated. Actors accessed the main stage from three points – a ladder, a set of stairs and a ramp. Each was cleverly adapted to suit different scenes.

The adventure unfolds from that point with satisfying speed. Lucy’s meeting with the graceful, nearly traitorous fawn, Mr. Tumnus (Tarik Jayasuriya); Edmund’s unfortunate interlude with the White Witch (Dilesh Dias), who incidentally should have used a wig to complement ‘her’ superior acting; the two beavers (Milindra Kulugammana and Arjun De Alwis), who could have also used some headgear to improve their cuteness quotient (but who were quite likeable even without); Father Christmas’s (Dilan John) appearance accompanied by a most satisfactory ho-ho-ho, and of course the meeting with the Cat – Aslan (played by Shanil Wijesinha).

The wolves, lead by Maugrim (Denham David), were brilliant – all savage, snarling barely contained brutality. The war scenes were satisfactorily noisy and violent. However, in the end there was one thing I decidedly did not like – the “musical” bit. You can imagine my surprise when the play Narnia opened inexplicably with a rendition of “Bare Necessities” from the Jungle Book. It was followed by other Disney classics, including songs from Beauty And The Beast, The Lion King, Moulin, and even Hercules! While this might have been creative, in theory, in reality, it served to divert the audience’s attention away from the play. So there we were minds on dancing spoons, muscular heroes and warrior maidens, rather than The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.