SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
Narnia monotony
SUSAN DARLINGTON is unmoved by a production full of spectacular tableax but without emotional connection to the characters
PAUL FOLEY recommends an extraordinary double bill that packs a punch and leaves you reeling
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a play about AI that results in a deadening disconnect for its audience
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
MATTHEW HAWKINS pays tribute to the performance artist and costumier, Leigh Bowery
SIMON DUFF reviews a new composition by German composer and pianist Florian Weber that blurs the line between where improvisation ends and composition begins
New releases from The Jim Mullen Quartet, Caroline Kraabel/John Edwards, and Matthew Muneses/Riza Printup
The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe
Leeds Playhouse
FOR a novel that’s about good and evil, Michael Fentiman’s production of CS Lewis’s 1950 children’s classic is curiously monochromatic.
Casting the stage in long shadows makes sense during the opening scenes, when the four Pevensie children are being evacuated during WWII. Reflecting national fear and uncertainty, we see them boarding a miniature stream train that’s borne aloft by a chorus of hands, unsure if or when they’ll ever see their parents again.
The dark lighting makes less sense when the children arrive at a house in the country and are transported to Narnia through a wardrobe. The colour palette here makes the land feel anything but magical, despite the presence of talking animals and the state of perpetual winter.
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ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
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ANGUS REID applauds the inventive stagecraft with which the Lyceum serve up Stevenson’s classic, but misses the deeper themes
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