The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is coming to the stage at the St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.
A local acting troupe has adapted the book for the stage, and is looking for actors, costumers, stagehands, and set designers to join the production, slated for six December performances. There are roles for four children, and 12 to 16 adults. Theatrical experience is not required.
Pastor Colin Cross said he quite often gets asked: Why put on a play in a church?
“Nothing could be more natural. After all, when post-classical drama first returned to Western Europe, it first found its niche in the cathedral courtyards of medieval towns and villages,” said Cross. “Moreover, the church at its best has always cherished the work of creative people, the Bible itself a consummate work of art. St. Andrew’s not only hosts the annual Walk to Bethlehem, but has now begun offering plays to round out the Christmas season.”
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is their fourth production, after A Victorian Christmas (2011), It’s a Wonderful Life (2012) and Miracle on 34th Street (2013). The upcoming production will appeal to all ages as the characters take the audience to Narnia, where the White Witch has cast a spell that makes it always winter and never Christmas. The heros battle the forces of evil, discovering that love is the deepest magic of all.
When he was about 16, writer C. S. Lewis saw a picture in his mind. From this came The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, published 1950, the first of seven Chronicles of Narnia. Since 1950, Narnia has taken the world by storm, selling over 100 million copies in 47 languages.
Cross said it is hard to explain why the Chronicles have had so much appeal, but said Laura Miller (writing in The Magician’s Book: A Skeptic’s Adventures in Narnia) once made a very good try:
“A long time ago, I opened a book, and this is what I found inside: a whole new world and then that world turned out to be made of even more books ... At nine I thought I must get to Narnia or die.”
For more information, please call the church at 250-492-8304. The casting call takes place on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. Those attending are asked to use the back entrance of the church, off Wade Avenue.