The Witch and the Wardrobe:

Thespian talents galore

Reviewed by Sharika Jayewardene

We are all used to school productions. Doting parents buy tickets and fondly sit through numerous recitals, brief songs, numerous Christmas carols all recited with the mechanical enthusiasm of well-oiled machines. I should know, I am one of those parents and have gawped with unashamed abandon at all such performances.

A scene from the play

But then came S. Thomas' production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and this defied all known norms of school productions. To start with, there was no chaos! Everything was in an orderly, well -balanced and I dare say organised, system. The audience, travelled with an amazing young Lucy (Akil Ismail) through the doors of the Wardrobe to meet the very nice Mr. Tumnus (Jonathan Edwards) who remained on his tiptoes the entire night, fulfilling the role of a fawn perfectly and were then transported into a Narnia, under the entrapment of the elegant and effective White Witch (Jordash Serasinghe).

Whoever thought school boys could not have pulled off female roles would have been hard pressed yesternight to find a better enactment of Jardis or for that matter of young Lucy (played on alternating nights by Tharuka Jayaratnam). While Anushka Samarasinghe played the role of Peter embodying the responsibility and courage C. S. Lewis gave to the character, Niran de Mel was the perfect foil, reflecting the cowardice and traitorous behaviour that would have been familiar to a World War 2 reader.

The ultimate conversion to justice and truth and the self sacrifice of Aslan (Kathesh Handy) enthralled the audience.

Battle

The stage was managed so efficiently that the switching between scenes often went unnoticed. Beds appeared miraculously where just seconds earlier an entire battle had raged.

The magic of Mr. Tumnus' home, the Winter of Narnia, the beavers' lodge were all recreated with a professionalism that equalled any professional theatre production. The magic of Narnia could only be recreated by true lovers of C.S. Lewis and it was amazing to watch such a vast cast of kids ranging from ages 10 to 19, come together to make this world, a reality.

Giants, dwarves, mice, fawns, cheetahs, leopards, a fox, wolves, rhinos, centaurs, minotaurs and two absolutely charming Beavers completely ruled the stage. Each embodying the characteristics, movements and expressions skillfully enhanced with fantastic make up by way of body paint, to create the complete illusion of a magical world.

Needless to say S. Thomas' is privileged not only in its history of thespian talent but also to have on call an old boy of the calibre and commitment of director Vinodh Senadheera.

To produce and direct with such aplomb a production that transcends reality and takes its audience into a mythical world, requires probably the same self sacrifice that Aslan made to save Edmund. And this was evident in sheer effort that had gone into every nuance of this play.

Talent

I went expecting a school production but instead was witness to the thespian talent that lurks in the next generation and which had been skilfully cultivated through this production.

I left the Lionel Wendt with the words of Santa, played by gregarious Ashwin Schaffter (alternately by Lihan Mendis) ringing in my ears,

"Your presents are no longer toys, bear them well". A gentle reminder of all the gifts of talent that I had witnessed, borne so well by this troupe.

Esto Pepetua!