The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe – Review – Hull New Theatre

By Rachel Howard, October 2025

CS Lewis’s magical tale of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (first published in 1950) was a key part of my childhood. Not only did I devour the book, but the 1979 animated film was one of the first movies I owned – and I watched it until I knew the words by heart.

So the cast of the UK touring production have some big shoes to fill as I take my seat at Hull New Theatre for opening night. First point to note – the show starts half an hour earlier than normal (7pm rather than 7.30pm), I presume to account for the younger audience members. I’m actually surprised at the amount of children in the audience given the midweek, evening timeframe, but the excitement in their eyes shows me that CS Lewis is just as popular now as back in the 1980s when I was whisked away to the magical land of Narnia via the wonder of VHS.

For those unfortunate souls who are unfamiliar with the story, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe tells the story of four children evacuated from London in 1940 in an effort to avoid the Blitz. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie are sent to the countryside to live with the mysterious Professor and his housekeeper Mrs Macready. Feeling isolated and bored, the children are devastated to be away from their parents, and hate the cold and possibly haunted house that is now their home. Little do they know, magic awaits…

It is Lucy that first ventures into the wardrobe in the spare room, making her way though the racks of fur coats and coming out the other side in the snow-covered, icy land of Narnia. Here, she meets the fawn, Mr Tumnus, and strikes up a special friendship, even though he admits to working as a kidnapper for the evil Jadis, aka the White Witch. It is she who makes it always winter, and never Christmas in Narnia, ruling with an iron fist, and turning to stone anyone that dare betray her.

“Marvellous, magical fantasy”

Edmund is the next sibling to make the journey to Narnia, but Edmund is different to the others. He’s cynical, moody and constantly trying to get one over his brother and sisters. When he arrives in Narnia, he is met by the White Witch, where he promptly falls under her spell. Bribed by false promises and piles of Turkish Delight, he promises to bring his three siblings to her next time they come.

When all four ‘Daughters of Eve and Sons of Adam’ finally arrive in Narnia, they find Mr Tumnus’s house demolished and realise the White Witch has got to him, angered that he met Lucy but failed in his mission to kidnap her.

Scuttling along to the rescue are Mr and Mrs Beaver, who take the children into their warm and cosy dam to keep them from Jadis’s spies. But there is a greater threat… a prophecy in Narnia that the White Witch’s domineering rule will finally come to an end when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve sit on the thrones of Cair Paravel. Narnia’s true ruler, the lion Aslan, has heard word of the children’s arrival and is returning after many years to fight the White Witch and see Narnia returned to its rightful ruler.

But of course, things never run smoothly in fairytales, and Edmund decides to betray his siblings, bringing news of Aslan’s return to the White Witch – setting in motion a war that will decide the future of Narnia.

It’s a marvellous, magical fantasy that plays out brilliantly in books and on screen, but how does it translate to the stage? In a word, faultlessly. This is a show that brings West End quality to local theatres – and I mean that across the board.

“Genuine emotion”

Firstly, the cast. The Pevensie children, Joanna Adaran (Susan), Jesse Dunbar (Peter), Bunmi Osadolor (Edmund) and Kudzai Mangombe (Lucy) may well be adults portraying children but they do it with flair and ease. From the wide-eyed and innocent Lucy, to the cocky and selfish Edmund, they encompass all the personality traits that I remember from the book and film, bringing the characters to life right in front of me.

Anya de Villiers and Ed Thorpe as Mr and Mrs Beaver provide many light-hearted moments of comedy as the constantly bickering couple desperately looking to keep the children safe. Alfie Richards plays the charming yet vulnerable Mr Tumnus. His friendship with Lucy is beautiful and stirs feelings of genuine emotion – pass me the handkerchief! Kraig Thornber as The Professor brings comical one-liners as well as a sense of reassurance, not to mention a little mystery.

But joint top billing must be given to Katy Stephens as the White Witch and Stanton Wright as Aslan. Stephens embodies the chilling, icy persona of Jadis perfectly, her tyrannical voice booming out into the crowd as we cower in our seats. Stanton Wright may well be listed as “Aslan” in the cast list, but that could be a little deceiving, and it goes to explain another one of the fabulous aspects of this show. While Stanton Wright may well be the powerful voice of Aslan, working alongside him at all times is a large mechanical puppet lion, manipulated by Andrew Davison, Molly Francis and Rhodri Watkins. The puppet is so lifelike it often takes my breath away. Every movement is stunningly real – each tilt of the head, swish of the tail and stretch of the legs. But it’s the roars that make us all sit up and listen. The puppet’s movements alongside Wright’s dialogue is a theatrical masterpiece – and isn’t the only use of puppetry – the Professor’s cat, Schrödinger, prowls and meows its way across the stage and into the laps of the children in a fantastic feline fashion.

“Something special”

Working alongside the cast to elevate this show to the top tier of touring productions is the set and special effects. The visuals are what set this show apart from the rest. It’s not an overly complicated set, but the use of light, dark and smoke to evoke certain scenes is triumphant. The steam train evacuating the children at the start is particularly clever, and the snowflakes falling on a dark and desolate Narnia puts a palpable chill in the air.

There is a real darkness about this production, both in the fact it’s visually very dark throughout, and in the darkness of the story itself. I realise this isn’t for everyone, but I feel it successfully embodies the White Witch’s hold over Narnia, the fact Spring never arrives, and reflects the feeling of hopelessness amongst those who live under the rule of Jadis. It is certainly a dark version of CS Lewis’s fantasy, and that should be considered when taking children. It’s recommended age 6+, but there are scenes that even older children may find pretty terrifying.

Aerial stunts aren’t something you see often in touring productions – the logistics of setting them up in a new theatre every week must be challenging to say the least. But that doesn’t stop the Aerial Director, Gwen Hales, from designing some superb high-flying tricks that have us all gazing upwards in awe. The aerial scene with the White Witch is really something special.

With a runtime of 2hrs 15 (including 20min interval), this isn’t the shortest show in the world, but it goes by in a flash, and before we know it, we are on our feet giving a well deserved standing ovation to the staggeringly talented cast and crew.

And if you needed more proof… not once did I hear a tired, frustrated or bored child, and the looks of wonder on their faces as we leave the theatre proves that, 75 years on, the novels of CS Lewis are still working their magic. And long may it continue.

‘The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe’ is at Hull New Theatre until 4th October
images: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg

Rachel Howard( Writer )

After studying English at university and having a lifelong love of writing, Rachel, a full-time editor, came to On Yorkshire in 2017 where she started off reviewing theatre productions in and around the East Yorkshire area. That love of theatre soon expanded into hotels, restaurants and travel, not to mention becoming one of On Yorkshire’s resident beauty editors, reviewing the latest products, spas and treatments. Rachel loves to sample the very best Yorkshire and the UK have to offer in order to bring you the low down on the high life!

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