REVIEW: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Sunderland Empire

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe visits Sunderland Empire this week, running from 11 to 15 November to mark the 75th anniversary of C.S. Lewis’s beloved novel. The story follows four siblings — Peter (Jesse Dunbar), Susan (Joanna Adaran), Edmund (Bunmi Osadolor), and Lucy Pevensie (Kudzai Mangombe) — who are evacuated from London to the countryside during World War II.

Edmund (Bunmi Osadolor), Peter (Jesse Dunbar), Lucy (Kudzai Mangombe) and Susan (Joanna Adaran)

The Pevensie siblings stay at the Professor Digory Krike (Kraig Thronber) who is somewhat of an odd man. He lives in a large house with many antiques, he lives with some servants and his cat, Schrödinger (a puppet puppeteered by Andrew Davison). In his house, Lucy and her siblings find a wardrobe which leads to Narnia.

Growing up, I loved this story, the film and video game so I was intrigued to see how Michael Fentiman would bring this to the Sunderland stage and how they’d be able to capture the magical feel of the story. I had nothing to worry about as Fentiman and his team absolutely delivered and went above and beyond any expectation I had.

The cast did a wonderful job at playing their characters and bringing them to life, it was very fun to see all the characters who were puppets. the puppets were wonderfully created to also show part of their own story, like Aslan, giant and terracotta-esque to show how ancient he is and that he’s probably been around since long before anyone else. Aslan was played by Stanton Wright and puppeteered by Andrew Davison, Molly Francis,  and Rhodri Watkins.

Susan (Joanna Adaran), Peter (Jesse Dunbar), Lucy (Kudzai Mangombe), and Aslan (Stanton Wright and puppeteered by Andrew Davison)

Lighting director Jack Knowles and Chris Fisher, head of magic and illusions are a massive part of that, it wouldn’t have been possible without them. The lighting and illusions were very well done. This along with the musicans playing on the stage around the actors were stunning and really brought the right emotions out for the scenes. They managed to make the White Witch (Katy Stephens) feel terrifying and massive and gave her the perfect villain entrance.

The White Witch (Katy Stephens)

Also making the show magical was Jonathan Holby, the fight director but especially the aerial director Gwen Hales. I was not expecting flying to be part of the show but I am incredibly happy it was. There are some bird characters, the Wise Owl (Kraig thronber), Phoenix (Ffion Haf), and Robin (Molly Francis) so I’m also not sure why I was surprised at the flying, but there were some non-bird characters who flew too and the first time that happens – with no spoilers- was stunning!

To show the changing weather and enhance the sense of magic, the production made heavy use of smoke machines. The smoke sometimes drifted into the audience — it tends to wander wherever it pleases — so if you’re asthmatic, I’d recommend sitting further back, perhaps in the dress circle or gallery.

Step into the snowy world of Narnia with Aslan before it’s too late, from 11 November to 15 November over at the Empire, from just £15 a ticket at ATG Tickets.