A Memorable Play

On Friday, November 20, I went to go see "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" performed by UNCG's theatre department at 9:30 in the morning. When I arrived at Taylor Theatre, chai in one hand and pre-purchased ticket in the other, I was not expecting to see what was there: a seething mass of elementary school children waiting in their not-so-straight lines to see the show - the show that I was about to see. I froze, suddenly finding a new appreciation for the caffeine that the chai had sent coursing through my system moments before. Taking a deep breath, I moved forward toward the doors again, avoiding the small children as their teachers attempted to get them all seated without having an accident or - goodness forbid - loosing one of them among the homogenous crowd of students flooding in. Of course, it got better once everyone was seated - we (we being the group of about 40 students above four feet in height) all were put in the back row so the children could see above us - and the lights finally dimmed. The scene opened on the main characters - Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy - cowering while air-raid sirens blasted over their heads. It was a familiar scene for me, as I have read the book and seen both the old cartoon and new live-action versions of this play. However, it was a new experience to see how the directors, set-makers, and costumers were able to bring the worlds of Narnia to the audience without the use of computer animation or special effects. I found myself drawn to the cast member who played the unicorn and how well she played her part, despite the fact that she did not have 10 words throughout the whole play. The acting was not as good as I had hoped, but the children enjoyed it and once the children calmed down, I was able to enjoy it as well. The play was appropriate for the age group and all-in-all it was very entertaining. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is up for a light, though allegorically deep, play and who enjoys a little bit of magic.