The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe
Milton Keynes Theatre
22nd July 2025
Incredibly nearly 75 years old, ‘The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe’ remains an evergreen favourite tale with audiences, be it on the stage, film, or television (as those of us old enough to remember the 1988 BBC series will fondly recall). The most recent stage adaptation was created at the Leeds Playhouse back in 2017, and was so well-received that it enjoyed a London run as well as touring the UK. The production is back on the road once more, bringing the Narnian magic to regional stages for the rest of this year into early 2026, and casts its wintry spell at Milton Keynes Theatre this week.
C.S.Lewis’ classic story sees the Pevensie children (Jesse Dunbar, Joanna Adaran, Bunmi Osadolor and Kudzai Mangombe) evacuated during wartime Britain, and sent to live under the care of an elusive professor (Kraig Thornber) and his strict housekeeper Mrs Macready (Katy Stephens). A game of Hide & Seek sends Lucy into an enormous old wardrobe which leads to the magical world of Narnia, where she meets the fawn Mr Tumnus (Alfie Richards). He tells Lucy tales of how Narnia used to be, before it fell under the spell of the cold and cruel White Witch (Stephens). When Lucy returns home, her family don’t believe her story, but soon they all end up in Narnia, finding themselves part of an ancient prophecy that the White Witch will go to murderous lengths to thwart. The children’s only hope lies with the great and powerful lion Aslan (Stanton Wright), whose return might finally bring an end to the White Witch’s eternal winter.
Any production of this story needs to feel magical, literally stepping into another world, and this one certainly does that. Based on Sally Cookson’s original production, director Michael Fentiman infuses the production with a sense of wonder that permeates throughout the show, boosted by a stylish set (Tom Paris) that feels both industrially modern and delicately fantastical at the same time. The story never has had much meat on its bones, and that thinness is sometimes felt despite the production’s efforts to flesh out proceedings by adding some songs which bring mixed results (although it absolutely isn’t a musical). Lewis’ allegory for Aslan as Jesus remains very thinly veiled, but there also some fun new additions such as the Professor’s cat being named Schrodinger (particularly when the Witch exclaims “the cat IS dead!” later on). Casting black actors as the Pevensie children is also an inspired choice, adding weight to their plight against a “White” Witch and really enhancing that binary divide. All of the story’s key events are included and delivered effectively, although some of the larger fight scenes perhaps aren’t quite as dramatic as they should be, and some of the animal costuming feels far too human. But pace is quick and snappy, with a fantastic sense of movement throughout (Shanelle Fergus), and the Aslan puppetry (Toby Olie and Max Humphries) is particularly impressive.
Performances are also excellent, with all four of the leading children putting in strong performances (Joanna Adaran and Kudzai Mangombe as Susan and Lucy respectively in particular excelling). It could be argued that any production of this story lives or dies on the strength of its White Witch, and this one is in very safe hands with Katy Stephen’s icy villainess. Stephens avoids trying to make the character a vamp as previous actresses have done, and instead plays her brimming with cold steely power. Stanton Wright also conveys the mighty gravitas of Aslan with conviction, and Kraig Thornber shows a wonderful sense of whimsy as the Professor who clearly knows more than he’s letting on.
Lewis’ tale will never age, Good vs Evil will always be a story worth hearing, and this is certainly one trip inside the wardrobe that audiences will want to climb into, inventively told and delivered with a magical vision.
‘The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe’ runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 26th July 2025 before continuing on its UK tour through to January 2026.
Details at:
https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre
https://www.lionwitchonstage.com/tour-dates
Performance runtime 2 hour 10 minutes including interval.
