Review: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, Bristol Hippodrome – ‘A fantastically creative production’

If you were expecting the Hippdrome’s production of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe to be a light-hearted children’s tale, think again.

This production reminds its audience that C. S. Lewis’s famous story is a tale of light arising out of deep hardship, a retelling of the Easter story in which characters are tortured and turned to stone, and a network of secret police guards the perenially wintery Narnia.

When evacuees Lucy, Susan, Peter and Edmund discover a portal to a magical kingdom in the back of a wardrobe, they learn that they have entered an oppressed world ruled over by a cruel White Witch (Samantha Womack). Yet their appearance marks the promised return of the golden and great lion Aslan, a Jesus-like figure who brings with him the end to 100 years of winter.

The children enter Narnia – The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe – photo: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg

The epic nature of this story is brought out by a stunning musical tapestry. Composers Benji Bower and Barnaby Race have outdone themselves. Their music is the driving soul of the show and fantastically diverse, bringing into it many different musical styles, from bluegrass to celtic folk to gypsy jazz.

They make excellent use of percussion, casting a real sense of danger over the action through deep, resonant beats. At other times, beautiful harmonies are brought out as actor-musicians add lilting vocals to striking combinations of strings, keys and woodwind. Particularly notable is the ferocious bowing of violins to a highly reverberant drumbeat as the White Witch makes her first appearance.

Ensemble, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe – photo: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg

This awesomeness is reflected in the set. Immense golden circles frame the stage, arching around each other in concentric patterns. At the centre, an ornate clock with roman lettering is inset into the backdrop of the space. Once the play begins, it swings aside to reveal a glimmering circle of light, at first the eerie blue of winter, then shifting to a warm orange once Aslan, and spring, begin to return.

Director Michael Fentiman navigates this set with expert stagecraft. Though the Hippodrome stage is not small, I have seen many directors make it seem crowded and chaotic. Fentiman never does this. His blocking is ever-changing and always engaging, and never fails to pull focus to the action. He injects a multi-disciplined creativity into the action to bring it further to life, from shadows to poi to actor-musicianship.

The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe – photo: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg

The lighting design (by Jack Knowles) helps provide extra magic to certain moments, such as the grand finale to the first half, and the dramatic exits from the wardrobe.

However, there are structural flaws to the production. The story develops the role of the professor from what is written in the book to help explain the story and give the character a fuller role. This would be fine (and the character is well played), but the extended focus on the scenes prior to Narnia means that not enough time is spent within the kingdom itself. This is, after all, the bit that the audience is most excited to see, and where the most dramatic and pertinent elements of the story are told. And yet it is perhaps a full 45 minutes before the adventure proper begins.

As a result, the great battles in the second half are rushed and unclear. Not enough is done to explain the significance of what is happening, so that when the great moment of drama is reached between the White Witch and Aslan (I won’t spoil it for you), it does not reach the defining, climactic heights that it should.

The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe – photo: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg

Another difficulty in presenting this moment is the tricky characterisation of Aslan. The great lion, a symbolic presentation of the Christian God, is supposed to draw upon both the gentleness of Jesus and the fiery might of the Old Testament Deity. He is supposed to be an imposing, spectacular animal and yet also a creature that we the audience – humans – can relate to.

The production tackles these contradicting commands as best it can. But it doesn’t pull them off. Aslan is portrayed dually by puppet (a growling, life-sized creation supported by a team of puppeteers) and a human actor, clothed in furs and bearing more than a little resemblance to Christ. The dual-portrayal device is clearly meant to get around the contradictions of the great beast and the human soul, to present mightiness alongside relatable, humble humanity. But it doesn’t work.

Aslan, in The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe – photo: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg

The puppet’s staring eyes and solid ‘fur’ make it appear stony and lifeless, and despite the expert puppeteering, its movement around the stage is clumsy and constrained, in contrast to the sleek, fantastic beast of the books. Beside the puppet, Chris Jared as the human Aslan speaks in a hoarse, level voice that bypasses gravity and lands somewhere short of quiet dignity. The result is that he just sounds tired. It is a far cry from the majestic, entrancing redeemer that I was hoping for.

That said, many other performances in the production are excellently pitched. Womack’s White Witch more than makes up for the radiation of power that her opponent lacks. She is colder than the winter she represents and just as damaging. Supremely composed, she shows a deep psychopathy in the way she manipulates, and then tortures, those she needs to use.

The White Witch, in The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe – photo: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg

Jez Unwin as Mr Tumnus is a wonderfully sweet, gentle fawn. He gives his character a dark
edge whereby he is capable of betrayal, but ultimately shows that this timid-seeming creature
shows himself to be bolder and better than those early moments of weakness.

Despite its flaws, this is a fantastically creative production that avoids gimmick and tells
this often-performed story with a new freshness.

The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe is at Bristol Hippodrome from May 3-7 at 7pm, with 2pm matinee shows on Thursday and Saturday. Tickets are available at www.atgtickets.com.

Main photo: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg

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