THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE – REVIEW OF 2025 SHAW FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

The program cover for The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe shows a serious-looking lion with a crown on its head worn slightly askance. It seems appropriate for the adaptation of C. S. Lewis’s children’s novel of that name and part of the Narnia Chronicles.  It tells the story of English children during World War II who were evacuated to an old mansion in the country owned by the kindly Professor Kirke (David Adams) and his officious assistant Mrs. Macready (Kiera Sangster). The reason for their evacuation from London is to escape the dangers of the bombing  by Germany.

The story has much to recommend it as children’s literature. The four sibling children, Susan (Kristi Frank), Lucy (Alexandra Gratton), Peter (Jeff Irving) and the treacherous Edmund (Dieter Lische-Parkes) go through the back panel of a wardrobe to the magical land of Narnia. Lucy enters that magical kingdom and meets Mr. Tumnus (Michael Theriault) a nice faun, with horns who complains that Narnia is ruled by the wicked White Witch and it has permanent winter. The icicles hanging from the ceiling of the stage confirm that.

But Mr. Tumnus is also a spy for the White Witch and must report the sighting of any Sons of Adam or Daughters of Eve or else face severe punishment. Decency wins over fear of punishment and Tumnus allows Lucy to return to the wardrobe.

Narnia has a talking animal, of course. In addition to Tumnus, we have Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (Shawn Wright and Jade Repeta) as the nice beavers who carry their puppet heads in front of them, and other members of the Ensemble with animal puppet heads. The puppetry is superbly directed and designed by Brendan McMurtry Howlett. 

(t to b) Jeff Irving as Peter, Dieter Lische-Parkes as Edmund, 
Alexandra Gratton as Lucy and Kristi Frank as Susan. Photo by David Cooper.

What about the lion. Yes, there is a lion, Aslan (Kelly Wong), dressed like any young man in slacks and a shirt. What happened to his lion costume and his crown? Nothing. We know he is the  rightful king of Narnia and the White Witch has taken over and brought permanent winter and we know that justice will prevail. But we have a problem.

I expected more from a children’s/young adults’ book. The young audience should laugh, be frightened, be engaged, be enthralled, cheer the good guys, boo the bad ones, and be amazed by the magic kingdom. Some of these reactions must be there. I can’t say that many of them were there substantially, to capture the attention of young and old.

The White Witch (Elodie Gillett) is dressed stylishly in a white gown and she screams a couple of times and we know that she is evil (she turns people who disobey her into stones) but she does not evoke fear in the audience. The Lion, the hero of the story, does not inspire cheers. Edmund is perhaps the real villain because he betrays his siblings. A sound boo from the audience was certainly called for but it did not happen.

Most of the actors join the Ensemble and participate in some of the dances choreographed by Genny Sermonia with original music and sound design by Ryan deSouza. The program does not credit a set designer but does mention James Lavoie as scenic consultant. The sets are very good.

Lewis’s book was adapted for this production by the Shaw Festival’s Artistic Director Tim Carroll and Selma Dimitriejevic. She also directs the production which has a straightforward telling of the novel that somehow misfires.
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The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in an adaptation for the stage of C. S. Lewis’s novel by Tim Carroll and Selma Dimitrijevic continues in repertory until October 4, 2025  at the Festival Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. www.shawfest.com.

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Greek Press