Written By Mark De Wolf-Ott
A sense of magic was in the air when Pit and Balcony opened its production of "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" on Friday night (Dec. 1).
There were all kinds of characters in this C. S. Lewis imaginary snowy kingdom. A white stag, a unicorn, beavers, wolves, a faun (half man, half goat), a centaur (half man, half horse), a fox and a deer -- and they all talked!
How enchanting is that?
Not to mention an evil queen and a dutiful lion.
The play has a large cast, mainly consisting of children and young adults. You have to give them credit; they knew their lines and no stage fright was seen.
That same young boy who shouted it was magical also said “the wolves were too loud." Agreed. They were scary too and they overpowered the rest of the actors. Little Lucy, one of the main characters, had to really work to be heard above them.
There were some special effects with the centaur and the stone table that were noteworthy. All the main characters gave a convincing performance. It seemed short, not a lot of time for character development, and the action only seemed to hit on the highlights of the story. You did get the gist of it.
This is a great production for youngsters who are going to a play for the first time or to spark some interest in acting themselves. Directed by Aidan Montgomery, it is a pleasant treat for a holiday outing.
On a scale of one to five of my “How Do You Like Those Apples” rating, I’d give it 3 .5 apples.
