The buzz of excitement before a recent matinee performance of Prince Caspian at Shaw Festival’s Royal George Theatre differed greatly from the usual reserved pre-show din.
That could certainly be attributed to the makeup of the audience, at least 40 percent of whom were under the age of 18, and more than half of that group under the age of 12. Many of them, along with their parents, had pinned to their shirts handmade paper leaves, signifying that they had just participated in a pre-show workshop. They were ready to provide sounds as part of an army of trees during the performance.
“It’s really integral to the storytelling,” says director Molly Atkinson. “It’s fabulous to see all the different kinds of people getting into it. I can see the children, especially, getting so excited as they wait for their cues. It really engages them for the whole performance.”
Prince Caspian was the second of seven published novels in C.S. Lewis’ beloved The Chronicles of Narnia, though chronologically it is the fourth in the saga that was published in the early 1950s.
It continues a run of Shaw presentations of the author’s work — previously, Shaw presented The Magician’s Nephew (2018) and The Horse and His Boy (2019). Prince Caspian was actually slated to run during the COVID-cancelled 2020 season.
Despite the presence of so many young people in the audience, Atkinson insists the Shaw production is a universal story that is accessible to children, adults and everyone in between. And it takes on big themes, most importantly the damage that humans have done to the world.
“What’s really neat about this particular show is that it was adapted for the stage by Damien Atkins,” says Atkinson. “And, because the book is so huge, he really narrowed down exactly the story that he wanted to tell from the book. It’s really about Lucy, the youngest child, and her connection to Narnia, and the natural world as a whole.”
That means that avid Lewis readers may notice many plot points and situations from the book missing from the stage adaptation. But playwright Atkins has put together a cohesive script that any Lewis acolyte, as well as neophytes to the story, can thoroughly enjoy.
Another adjustment that Narnia fans are asked to make with the Shaw production is the presence of four adult actors in the central roles of the Pevensie children.
It’s not at all a difficult adjustment. Kyle Blair (Peter), Andrew Lawrie (Edmund), Marla McLean (Susan) and Kiana Woo (Lucy) fill the roles admirably, embodying the children without actually pretending to be children themselves.
“As the director, I didn’t feel the need for them to pretend to be kids,” Atkinson explains. “There’s so many wonderful complex emotions, thoughts and feelings about all these huge life lessons in this play. It would have been too much of a caricature to do that.”
Woo in particular does an excellent job of capturing Lucy’s wide-eyed bewilderment and excitement as the children return to a world that just a year earlier they had ruled as kings and queens, only to discover that more than 1,000 years has passed in Narnia. Michael Man personifies the title role of the prince, and Lawrie, as the always-hungry Edmund, is a delightful comic relief.
Atkinson and her creative team have made every effort to make Prince Caspian as spectacular as possible.
“I wanted to make it as beautiful, as epic, as huge as we could,” says Atkinson. “When I read the books, it was so epic in my mind, so big. I saw everything so clearly. I really wanted to make Narnia real. The colours needed to be vivid.”
Atkinson rightfully gives production designer Cory Sincennes much credit for making her vision of Narnia come alive. The sets, including a majestic, giant tree as a constant background, are spectacular. And with actors Fiona Byrne, Patty Jamieson, Qasim Khan, Jade Repeta and Sanjay Talwar all playing multiple characters, Sincennes’ costume designs are integral in following along with the story.
During the second act, jaws dropped in the audience in reaction to the emergence of the lion Aslan onto the stage. Controlled by Khan, Aslan is a massive walking, talking puppet that awes the audience as much as he does Lucy. The detail in the giant lion’s head is truly impressive.
As well, Jareth Li helps to bring much of the magic alive with his spectacular lighting. Early in the play the children are transported from a UK train station with a trick of the light that is mind-blowing. And the shadows cast upon the stage by the moon in act two look alarmingly realistic.
“I would say it’s a bit of a dream team working together,” raves Atkinson. “The script says the music has to be epic. Our sound designer Alessandro Juliani came up with music that just moves the show incredibly. It’s really beautiful.”
The fight sequences during act two are particularly enjoyable. At times brutal, at others balletic, actors explode on and off the stage, some portraying multiple characters between off-stage costume changes. Axes, daggers and swords clank and clang. At one point the centaur Glenstorm, played by the multi-talented Khan, raises his rear hooves to knock away an evil foe, much to the delight of the audience.
“John Stead, who did all the fight work, is probably the best fight director out there,” Atkinson says. “He was incredible to work with. My job as a director is to come up with my thoughts and ideas and to get the best people and let them do their jobs to make it all happen.”
And from the audience’s perspective, it was clear at the matinee that each of the actors on stage was having a really great time playing these characters and telling the story.
As well, the many families in attendance for the matinee seemed to be having a great time. Most likely a large number of the parents in the audience had read the Narnia books themselves, and perhaps spent many evenings reading the stories to the children who were there with them.
And those audience members with the leaves pinned to their shirts? They enthusiastically provided their assigned sounds as beech, silver birch and great oak trees on cue. One gentleman sitting next to this reporter was especially energetic in his role.
Prince Caspian continues at the Royal George Theatre until Oct. 6. For tickets, dates and times, visit shawfest.com.
