The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
West Yorkshire Playhouse

In Adrian Mitchell's dramatisation of C S Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the audience is invited to join four brothers and sisters as they go through the back of a huge wardrobe into the wintry land of Narnia where the wicked White Witch turns critics and rebels into stone.

Would the audience, largely comprising of children and teenagers with iPods and mobile phones, enjoy Lewis's Christian fable written 60 years ago, directed for the second time in recent years by Ian Brown?

I thought they might scoff at it but they loved it. They cheered when the lion Aslan came back from the dead, all golden and splendid, and at the curtain call they all booed the White Witch and joined in a hand-clapping choral finale.

Why? Perhaps because this magical rites-of-passage tale in which courage, forgiveness and love triumph over evil and death, is timeless The first half belonged to stage designer Ruari Murchison for his ingenious revolving sets, lighting designer Guy Hoare, sound and video designer Mic Pool for his clever use of orbiting projected images and costume designer Stephen Snell, for the 15 huge white fur coats representing the border of Narnia.

The second half, however, belonged to the cast for their energy and commitment, to choreographer Ann Yee for the dramatic ritualised set-pieces - the scene depicting the killing of Aslan was like the finale of The Rite of Spring - and to composer Shaun Davey for the rousing ensemble singing.

The first half was a bit tiresome - the gigantic painting of the flying horse, for example, played little or no part in the stage adaptation, and on occasion parts of the elaborate scenery didn't work.

The second half, however, was emotionally gripping and at times a little frightening. Aslan's death came as a shock; the grieving of Lucy, played convincingly by Amy Brown, and Susan, played by Laura Pitt-Pulford, almost made me cry as well.

Clare Foster was delightfully wicked as the White Witch, ditto Danny Seldon as the troubled fawn Mr Tumnus; Stefan Butler was very good in the tricky role of Edmund, Karen Mann was excellent as Mrs Beaver and Louis Decosta Johnson was an imposing and playful Aslan, even if some in the audience thought his costume less than regal.

  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is on until February 2. The box office number is (0113) 2137700.