Department of Theatre
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe opens at the Taylor Theatre on the campus of UNCG on
Friday, November 13 at 7 pm. The Piedmont Parent Magazine is sponsoring this opening night event,
and invites its readers and theatre lovers to attend the Friday evening performance for free with the
donation of a canned food item. Donated food items will be deposited at Urban Ministries, a local
food bank. Please plan to join us! Bring a canned food item to be exchanged for a theatre ticket on
Friday, November 13 between 6-7 pm i n the lobby of Taylor Theatre. Subject to availability.
The "Surprisingness" of Staging Narnia
Christine Woodworth, Dramaturg
C. S. Lewis was not only a prolific novelist and essayist, he wrote countless letters, many to children who had read his Narnia books. In 1953, Lewis wrote to a young girl in the U.S. named Hila, who had sent him a watercolor painting of the characters within The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Lewis wrote, "Thank you so much for your lovely letter and pictures. I realized at once that the coloured one was not a particular scene but a sort of line-up like what you would have at the very end if it was a play instead of stories" (qtd. in Letters to Children 31). Lewis's comment regarding the "line-up" (or curtain call) foreshadows the adaptation of his work for the stage.
A number of playwrights have adapted Lewis's beloved story of Narnia including Glyn Robins, Don Quinn, and, of course Joseph Robinette. South African playwright Le Clanche du Rand adapted the novel into a dynamic production for two actors who play all of the roles. A musical version entitled Narnia was created by Jules Tasca (Book), Thomas Tierney (Music) and Ted Drachman (Lyrics) in the mid-1980s. The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) also premiered a musical adaptation by Adrian Mitchell with music by Shaun Davey in 1998. Reviewing the RSC production for The Guardian newspaper, Michael Billington argued that "the secret of the show's success is that it wholeheartedly acknowledges the power of myth and answers our primal hunger for the idea of death and rebirth." Lewis's Narnia has also been reborn as radio plays, animated features, and, most recently, a blockbuster film.
What is it about his stories that continuously bring people back to them? Lewis's own essay, "On Stories," may provide an answer. In this piece, Lewis discusses the act of re-reading beloved childhood stories. He writes, "The re-reader is looking not for actual surprises (which can come only once) but for a certain surprisingness" (16). That, in effect, is also what continues to bring audiences back to theatre.
Costume & Make-Up Designer Angela Howell (3rd year MFA
Design Student) applies finishing touches on actor Terrance Johnson's
(Sophomore BFA Acting Student) make-up as "Mr. Tumnus".