Bringing a classic tale to life
The Pevensies found their escape from reality at the magical end of Prof. Digory Kirke’s wardrobe, as they left behind a world of mundane veracity and stepped into one that was full of enchantment – likewise, drama-goers will dive headfirst into an enthralling night of theatre as the drama society of S. Thomas’ College presents the – ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
“Being the oldest drama society in the country, we wanted to take on a production that will make its mark,” says Director, Vinodh Senadheera. Being an old boy of S. Thomas’ College Vinodh has been helping the society with their productions over the years.
‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ however is not an entirely new experience for the drama society as they had performed it before in 2006 – fresh from the hype of the Narnia movies. Seven years later they find themselves playing it out at a time when the commercial hype of the series has simmered down, but Vinodh -like many other fans of C. S. Lewis – believes that the book will never cease to amaze.
Funnily enough, two of the juniors who played Lucy Pevensie back in 2006 are now seniors – doing probably their final school production, and for Vinodh this time-lapse is similar to the one that transforms the Pevensie children into kings and queens of Narnia. “The production will also be a fitting tribute to the seniors as much as it is an experience for the youngsters.”
Vinodh
Having wanted to re-enact the magic from seven years ago, he had the characters worked out in his mind, so it was a matter of training them that was left to him. “Most characters are physically demanding and requires great stamina — that’s why you get most of the ruggerites in the play,” laughs Vinodh. Another reason why he chose the play is because it’s not really a children’s story at the end of the day, as the ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ transcends the children’s book genre and veers into time and space that is reserved in the hearts of grown adults. “There are certain stories that you need to hear, and this is one of them,” says Vinodh.
The play will largely stick to the original version with the Pevensies, Aslan and Jadis the White Witch taking lead roles but Vinodh says that minor tweaks were done to enhance its theatrical value, while the children were given the creative license to experiment.“It’s a really long plot and it’s always hard to constrain the entire thing into ninety minutes,” Vinodh explains. But ingenuity and a little help from the technological end sees a new take on scene and set changes where blackouts are used in minimum. Trying to create illusions was another bump on the way but together with able producer Marlon Jesudason, they hope to astonish the crowds with special effects.
“The illusions are what makes the audience feel like they too have stepped into Narnia,” says Marlon and he explains that technology is put to its best use to bring out the best in the play. “When Lucy enters Narnia for the first time, she feels a cold chill. We’ll try to recreate that atmosphere by mapping the ceiling at the Wendt and creating a video illusion,” he tells us. The plan is to transport the audience into Narnia by creating the ambiance for it, and Marlon and the team is determined to succeed as the drama society of S. Thomas’ College take on a task no less daunting than defeating Jadis herself.
Meet the cast in next week’s Mirror Magazine! ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ will go on board at the Lionel Wendt, from November 7-10 from 7.30 p.m. Tickets priced at Rs. 500, Rs. 750 and Rs. 1,000 are available at S. Thomas’ College Gym, BARS Cafe and at the Lionel Wendt.
