The Lumberjack, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?

 

There is a new stage production of the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe at the Shaw Festival and while I loved these CS Lewis novels when I was younger I won't be going. According to a Toronto Star review the replacement of the Lion Aslan with a lumberjacky figure, the corny humour, and misplaced musical numbers make the whole thing cringey. One sentence in particular is withering: "a dull and half-baked Narnia misfire that wastes its onstage talent and seemingly has no clue what it's supposed to be." 

To be fair, most adaptations of the adventure series with displaced wartime siblings passing through a wardrobe into an enchanted land called Narnia fall short of the mark. There is nothing like the written word and a vivid imagination to enliven a story and this is hard to replicate, even in our CGI times. 

Lewis was a deeply respected Christian apologist who infuses the seven books of The Chronicles of Narnia series with often powerful Christian imagery, although we know someone who read them with enthusiasm as a child and never saw that aspect. Aslan is the Christ figure lion who allows his mane to be shorn and is mocked by his adversaries before death. How can someone in suspenders convey this? 

Over the years the concerns about racist and anti-Islamic stereotypes have smudged the reputation of the novels but there is still so much that is worthwhile. As a first year university student 50 years ago I reread all these novel to relieve the stress of exam time. I would not recommend this strategy except that I did reasonably well with the exams. I am fond of the original illustrations by Pauline Baynes who also illustrated some of Tolkien's early books. 

You may have hear that Greta Gerwig of Barbie fame is having a go at Narnia with a projected release late next year. Gerwig is brilliant so we can  hope that this attempt will fare better than the Shaw production. It's unlikely that any lumberjacks will be involved.