The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

There really was only one thing I hoped to do while in London on this trip, that was to take in the live production of C.S. Lewis' classic book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  This new production uses theatre in the round, state of the art projections, and creative costuming and puppetry to bring this fantasy story to life.  Three years ago Beth and I chanced across this large tent in Kensington Gardens (one of London's large parks) where a production of Peter Pan was being performed.  We would have taken in that show if we had the time.  The same production company, threesixty, is responsible for this critically acclaimed show.

After Thomas and I spent most of Thursday at the Royal Air Force Museum, and the rest of the family wandered about the unique stores of London, we managed to meet up (in spite of the missing Mermaid's Tail - see Beth's previous post for more about that).  After some family discussion we decided we would try to get to the show in time (ironically we were in the heart of the theatre district at the time, but because this show was in Kensington Gardens it required some travel by tube).  So off we headed, and in spite of Joshua missing the subway the rest of us got on (due to rush hour crowding), we managed to connect again and hastened off to the show.

We arrived with 15 minutes to spare, enough time to purchase some tickets (thankfully it wasn't a sold out performance) and settle in our seats.  To my chagrin the audience seemed to be 50% children under the age of 8.  I wondered how this was going to work, how would these children stay focused throughout the performance.  Then the performance started and soon the actress playing Lucy took centre stage and drew the audience in by having them participate in counting during a game of hide and seek.  It was obvious that the drama company knew there would be children in the audience and they knew how best to engage them.

I could go on for paragraphs about the production, the wonderful special effects, the great acting, the surprising music (I didn't expect songs to be part of the production), but most of all I can simply sum up all of this by saying the show truly moved me - it stirred up some deep emotions (which caught me off guard - but I wasn't the only one - others in the family said the same thing).  It was a great show, and I'm glad we made the effort to see it.

There would be pictures posted if I could, but since no photography was allowed during the performance I took no pictures.  The best I can do is direct you to the threesixty website where you can see pictures from the production and read all about this unique adaptation of C.S. Lewis' book.