Adapting CS Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," for the stage is a courageous undertaking. It is a 208-page-long novel, based on an elaborate fantastical mythopoeia, created especially for its characters.
The Performing and Visual Arts Department of International School Dhaka (ISD) has shown that courage, and after three months of relentless rehearsals, the school students—under the careful guidance of their teachers—have successfully adapted the first book in the "Narnia" series for their stage. Their adaptation was titled "Into the Wardrobe" and it was performed last Wednesday in the grand auditorium of ISD.
The set, costumes, and acting
The ISD auditorium's stage is medium-sized and the seats are set in step-formation, as seen in multiplexes. The projector screen, flanked by two long white curtains on each side, projected visuals matching the mood of the play. Whenever action was happening amidst snow, the screens displayed snow, and in scenes that depicted the indoors, the visuals changed accordingly.
At one point in the play a white screen appeared from the rafters in the middle of the stage, and the violent murder of Aslan by the White Witch happened behind it on a wheeled pedestal. The eponymous Wardrobe was also on wheels, therefore easily brought to stage and wheeled out. This was a great testament to the creativity of the set-makers of the production.
The costumes were well-designed as well: everything from the furry ears of the Beaver family to the majestic silver gown of the White Witch were on-point. Most noteworthy was Aslan's costume, wherein, both the mane and the make-up looked similar to that of a live lion.
The acting of the young stars was the icing on the cake that is "Into the Wardrobe." The four actors who portrayed the Penvensie siblings had great chemistry between them, so much so, that it was a surprise to find out that they were not actually related to each other.
The Beaver family actors were just as adorable as nymphs. The actors in the costumes of White Witch and Aslan fulfilled the expectations of all the readers of the Narnia series, with their energetic performances. The most notable moment in the play was Aslan's roar, which left everyone in awe.
Phoebe Billingslea, in the role of Mr Tumnus, stole the show among all the young artistes on the stage. Her performance screamed great dedication to her craft.
ISD's grand auditorium was turned into a magical setting for staging an adaptation of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' | Manisha Agrawal
The people behind the production
The stage manager Elma Aman told Dhaka Tribune Showtime: "This is my first time being in a production where I was not the actor. I am in grade 10, and in between my studies and projects I devoted time to this. It was sometimes difficult with the rehearsals running till 5:30pm, but it all worked out really well. Whenever I was in here I felt like I was in a dream. We had a very nice and interactive cast, and a great team of teachers who were helping us. We did not feel like it was just another high school production, but rather, something that we all wanted to do and accomplish together.
"We have been working on this for four months, and in that time we have all grown close to each other. When everyone applauded at the end of the performance, I felt an indescribable feeling of accomplishment. It was a wholesome feeling," Elma added.
Drama teacher of ISD and Creative Director of the adaptation Stacy Ohrt-Billingslea said: "We started working on this in January. We held auditions in January, and rehearsed through February, March, and even today. We had a lot of breaks. We had a lot of holidays and days-off; so a lot of weekends in which the kids came in.
"We were all trying to figure out how we were going to do this show, because we used the story. We adapted the story to create what you saw today. We used a lot of different tools to be able to tell the story: such as images, projection, acting, music and a lot of elements that came together," Stacy added.
In answer to what kept the school students motivated for such a grand production Stacy said: "Well we want to have 'balanced' students; we want a balance between academics, athletics, and the arts. We want to be able to support the students in being able to do all of the above. The actors you saw on stage are all involved in sports, the students council, Model United Nations and many different things. They are very mature, and are learning the responsibility of how to balance all of those. The teachers and the school are trying to support them in doing all those things. And the parents are as well. Especially, the parents are making sure they can accommodate these things.
"I think that is the goal, is to figure out ways to give them the opportunity to explore all of their talents and skills," Stacy added.
In response to when the next production will be, Stacy said: "We are doing some one-acts in May or mid-June. The will be small one-act plays, that the kids are going to put together. We have already been working on them, so we are going to go back and see all those. And next year, we will have a brand new season of theatre productions.... We will put on plays, musicals, and ensembles. You will see a lot from us on future. ISD is paving the way for the performing arts, as you can see around here."
Tahsin Mostofa's roar as Aslan- The Great Lion, rang through the entire auditorium to leave the audience agape | Manisha Agrawal