New England Youth Theatre presents The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe April 23-May 2, Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm.
In a world of trauma, war, and family separation, four siblings, exiled from their home, find an escape via their imaginations to a place where they are empowered to change the lives of hundreds for the better. C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is an epic tale of youth creating an imaginative land where they have the power to determine not only their own futures, but the future of this magical place called Narnia.
Director John Hadden, one of the founding members of Shakespeare and Company in Lennox, Massachusetts, describes what pulls him into the play, “It’s really interesting, what happens to kids in a world that is made chaos by the adults. Getting involved in another world is a natural reaction to real crisis. Is this their way of playing out the crisis in order to deal with it? Or is the imagined world real?”
Hadden and the talented technical crew at New England Youth Theatre create an undeniable mirror – Narnia reflects the real world that the children experience. If you recall the characters from the story, you’ll remember all sorts of animals, beavers, badgers, foxes, lions. Hadden explains that “instead of becoming real animals, the animals are played as humans with those characteristics from the children’s real lives. A woman in an elaborate fur coat becomes the Queen.”
The excellently coordinated costumes that make these correlations happen are definitely something to celebrate. Not only are the costumes beautiful and appropriate to the fantasy, but Costumer Sandy Klein has pulled out all of her furs to make a chilly English winter and an epic Narnia winter come to life. Also, local folk music and dance expert Tony Barrand has collaborated with Hadden on this project to bring some classic folk tunes and movement into Narnia.
Hadden says, “I believe that imagination is important to a healthy existence on this planet.” Let the magic of the stage inspire your imagination – the more you use it the stronger it will be. Let this tale you read in school bring you back to those memories, and create new ones with your children!
Tickets are $7.50 for students, $9.50 for seniors, and $11.50 for adults, and performances are from April 23-May 2 at 7 pm on Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. To purchase tickets in advance go online to www.neyt.org, call the NEYT box office at 802-246-6398, or visit the theatre at 100 Flat St. on Wednesdays from 12 pm – 5 pm. Thanks to our sponsors – 1st Advantage Dental with Brattleboro Orthodontic Specialists.
