Lamb’s ‘Lion’ Misses the Magic

“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” one of the most shimmering, beautiful children’s tales of the century, gets a reverential going over at the Lamb’s Players Theatre.

Too reverential.

Robert Smyth’s adaptation illuminates the moral shadings and nuances of C.S. Lewis’ complex work about good and evil in a child’s fantasy world. But it never relaxes enough to truly enjoy the magic and wonder.

It’s hard for anyone to bring a world of written imagination fully to visual life. But this also may be a case of taking on too much. Smyth, the producing artistic director of the theater, wrote his own adaptation, directed and designed the set. His wife, Lamb’s associate director Deborah Gilmour Smyth, composed and directed the music.

The elements had been assembled, but as of opening night, the show had not completely sprung to life.

During World War II, four children, Peter (Joey Borgogna), Susan (Carrie Heath), Edmund (Michael Bierman) and Lucy (Hilary Clarke) are sent by their parents to stay with a professor (Jim Chovick) in the country.

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Their parents want to protect them from the war. In the professor’s mysterious old house, they find a curious wardrobe that leads to the magical land of Narnia, where fauns and beavers talk and fear a White Queen (K.B. Mercer), who has set up a cruel wintry reign in the absence of the rightful king, the lion Aslan (David Cochran Heath).

In Narnia, the children fight the battles and wrestle with the moral dilemmas from which their parents tried so hard to protect them.

The material is rich, and one senses that Lamb’s appreciates its depth. The tone, alas, is wrong. They’ve got it more mournful than fanciful, more agonized than fun, more lugubrious than magical. There are too many wistful dance sequences set to dirge-like compositions. It is too stern and out of touch with the colorful plumage of a child’s imagination.

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In contrast, Lewis knew how to engage a reader. He had Lucy in Narnia before the end of the first chapter. In this adaptation, the wait for the magic gets so extended, it feels like we’re waiting for Godot. And when the children get to Narnia, there is no fun in the bare wooden set.

Still, the children are charming, particularly Clarke’s innocent Lucy and Bierman’s tormented Edmund. Gail West sets a warm tone as the adult Lucy, narrating and looking back.

Mercer drips icicles as the wicked White Queen. Howard Bickle oozes evil as the Queen’s right-hand wolf, Fenris Ulf. And Heath is an expansive and spirited Aslan.

One of the best parts of this production is its sense of danger. This may be a children’s show, but director Smyth knows that children have passionate fears and dreams; the battles between good and evil are both chilling and thrilling. Lamb’s has the dark side down. Now it needs the light.

* “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” Lamb’s Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wednesday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 4:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends Nov. 9. $14-$28. (619) 437-0600. Running time: 2 hours, 7 minutes.

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“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”

Gail West: Adult Lucy

Joey Borgogna: Peter

Carrie Heath: Susan

Michael Bierman: Edmund

Hilary Clarke: Lucy

Jim Chovick: Professor

Doren Elias: Tumnus

K.B. Mercer: White Queen

Tom Stephenson: Mr. Beaver

Mary Miller: Mrs. Beaver

Howard Bickle: Fenris Ulf

David Cochran Heath: Aslan

A Lamb’s Players Theatre production of Robert Smyth’s adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ novel. Direction and sets by Robert Smyth. Music composed and directed by Deborah Gilmour Smyth. Choreography: Pamela Turner. Costumes: Veronica Murphy. Lights: Scott O’Donnell. Stage manager: Dalouge Smith.