The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe 2023

Synopsis

You are about to enter the magical land of Narnia, the land behind the wardrobe door where animals talk, trees can walk, a white witch covers the landscape with snow and bewitches you with Turkish Delight, and where a mighty lion rescues you whenever you get into trouble. C.S. Lewis’ first tale of Narnia is loved by children and adults the world over and now comes to vibrant life on the stage. Just open the door. You’ll never believe what you’ll find. 

Story

Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, four young evacuees from war-torn London, arrive at a rambling old country house, home of the eccentric Professor Kirk and his sharp-tongued housekeeper Mrs. Macready. The children are shown to the spare room, which is empty but for a large wardrobe and, while the others go off exploring the house, Lucy opens the wardrobe, pushes through the fur coats and finds herself by a lamppost in a snow-covered wood. Befriended by a faun (Mr. Tumnus) who appears suddenly, she learns that she is in the strange land of Narnia, where it is permanently Winter, but never Christmas, thanks to a spell cast by the wicked White Witch. 

When Lucy returns from Narnia and tells the others of her adventure, they initially refuse to believe her story, but Edmund follows her into the wardrobe and meets the Witch, who promises to make him King if he leads his brother and sisters to her castle. Finally Peter and Susan also arrive, by which time the powers of evil have gained the ascendancy, the faun is under arrest for treason and the Witch’s enemies are all being turned to stone statues. 

Aslan the lion (Lord of the Wood) returns to Narnia to defeat the Witch and enlists the children’s help, but Edmund betrays them to the Witch and, in so doing, forfeits his life to her by the law of the Deep Magic. Aslan decides to take Edmund’s place and is tortured and killed by the Witch, only to be saved by the Deeper Magic, because he is willingly taking the place of a traitor. All of the stone statues are liberated, Father Christmas comes back, the Witch is finally defeated and the children are crowned as Kings and Queens of Narnia.