THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

Chelmsford Young Gen at the Cramphorn Theatre Chelmsford

15.04.13

photograph by Barrie White-Miller
Spearman Photography

Capacity crowds in the Cramphorn the whole week, the audience and the actors filling the space in a production of great scale and ambition.

The show itself [popular with youth groups over the years - playing here in 2001 and 2010] remains an unsatisfactory collision between C S Lewis and Julian Slade. "But what does it all mean ?" asks Susan. More than just twee fantasy, perhaps. At least Ray Jeffery's production minimises the cuteness, with some excellent period performances from the Pevensies [on opening night I saw the Summer Cast]: Elliot Elder as a capable Peter, Charlotte Broad excellent as the older, wiser Susan, Emily Ford as the innocent, life-affirming Lucy, and an outstanding performance from Matthew Hedges as Edmund – a touching blend of vulnerability and bravado, with a confident stage presence, and a superb way with his big number in Act Two.

Many other notable characters – the Beavers of Jayden Booroff and Rebecca Clarke, Edward Bonner's Father Christmas, Jessica Higgins' perky Robin and Tom Tull's booming Aslan, though he is not helped by his comedy costume. Another young performer to catch the 50s feel of the original particularly well is Samuel Wolstenholme as the fey faun Mr Tumnus, dispensing tea and sugar-topped cake in his cosy cave.

The stage levels, and the auditorium, are imaginatively used – Winter into Spring, the Waiting and Wondering confrontation, spooky whispering, choruses from the back, the imposing White Witch [Eve French] and her retinue ranged down the aisle. Within the limitations, some good movement, too, like the battle scene, from a huge, hardworking chorus – I liked the wartime line-up behind the Teasing Song – which includes all those principals who are performing on alternate dates.

THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE


OffSpringers at the Cramphorn Theatre Chelmsford
17.03.10


“What possessed him?” The eccentric professor [Henry Whitington] has allowed common tourists into his sanctum. And the C S Lewis estate has allowed hacks to adapt his classic works for stage and screen.


Some have been almost worthy – Adrian Mitchell for the RSC – but Irita Kutchmy's trite travesty has little sense of style either in its words or its music.


What it does do is allow a huge OffSpringers cast, some of them very tiny, to enjoy dressing as animals and being the Rabble, with Maria French's choreography making the most of every opportunity. Not a number goes by without the chorus creeping on to give support. Even the touching soliloquy for Edmund [Matthew Barnes] had Isobelle Molloy's chirpy Robin dancing around.


I liked the bold black and white setting; the all-important wardrobe was cleverly designed. Some of the most striking scenes were towards the end, with the stone table, using smoke and light to good effect. The best numbers were the tongue in cheek ones, like the tap-dancing invitation to tea.


When I saw the show, early in the run, there was some insecurity, and too many moments when nothing happened, awkwardly. The costumes, though, were superb [In Delight's Leonie Rose].


Performances of note included Tamara Anderson's seductive White Witch, well matched by Owen Green's noble Aslan. Ben Hitchen looked great as Tumnus the Faun, but could have been more fey; Eve French gave an assured performance as the youngest Pevensie – we shared her wonder as she wandered first into Narnia. Mr and Mrs Beaver [Kieran Young and and Rebekah Walker] were both very watchable; a shame they couldn't have a  better number.


The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was directed for OffSpringers by Alexandra Arrowsmith, with June Watson as Musical Director.

THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

Chelmsford Young Generation at the Cramphorn Theatre

27.12.01

Irita Kutchmy's musical version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was a good choice for CYGAMSChristmas show. It involves loads of youngsters, and is a popular, perennial story. It's been sold out for weeks.

Purists will not like the Disneyfied travesty of much of the plot and many of the characters, but these young actors, directed as ever by Ray Jeffery, went to enormous lengths to capture the period feel and the poetry. Generally, though, performers of all ages could usefully have projected a little more strongly.

On the opening night we saw the left-hand cast - of these, I greatly enjoyed Amelia Burns as Susan, and Keeley Allen as a warm, outgoing Lucy, looking and sounding just right as a feisty evacuee. Mr Tumnus the faun was neatly personified by Mitchell Raymond, who delivered his lines with feeling and moved with poise and grace. The White Witch was not well served by the script, but Helen Morris gave a strong panto performance, a worthy match for Paul Synott's majestic Aslan.

The production crowded the Cramphorn stage, but the wartime prologue was effective, and I liked the lamp-post and the snow like fondant icing over the rocks and trees. And despite the clunky lyrics and the forgettable tunes, the audience, like the visitors to Narnia, happily forgot all about the real world for a magical couple of hours.