WOS theatregoers welcome summer with a trip through the Wardrobe
Last night (23 May) Whatsonstage.com theatregoers got to make good use of the first real summer day of 2012 by heading to Kensington Garden for the Threesixty Theatre production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. A white picket fence encloses a large corner of the park containing an enormous white tent (the Threesixty Theatre), posh porta-loos, picnic tables and benches as well as rather more comfortable outdoor arm chairs.
Inside the tent itself, the seats – like at a circus – surround the circular stage which you soon realise utilises not only a revolve and trap doors but also ceiling wires and set pieces rising from the floor. The tent roof becomes the canvas for the projections that range from falling fur coats to snowy fields and spring flowers. The bear stage so neatly and effectively used; along with the ever changing projections; and costumes that capture the woodland feel of the piece using stilts, crutches and body paint; as well as impressive puppet work make this a perfectly enchanting evening.
An inspired choice to voice Aslan, David Suchet‘s dulcet tones reverberate around the tent, as the puppeters perfectly capture the majesty and power of a lion’s stride and an Aslan made of wood comes beautifully to life. The production as a whole is alive with the scale and epic scope that has come to embody Rupert Goold‘s work.
A look across the audience showed many adults as mesmerised as their children and for a fairly long running show there wasn’t nearly the shuffling and fidgeting you might expect. Indeed, the action takes place all around you so there’s hardly any reason not to be engaged by something in the Threesixty Theatre.
As always, please feel free to email your comments and thoughts
about the play, as well as any of your favourite insights from last
night to
feedback@whatsonstage.com. We would love to hear from
you.
Laura Norman
Club Manager
