BWW Reviews: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, Rose Theatre, December 4 2014

When Lucy first pushes through the mothballed coats and finds herself next to a lampost in the snowy land of Narnia, the kids, and a few adults too, involuntarily release a little "Wow" that floated, like the artificial snow, around the theatre. It summoned to my mind "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." It really is that beautiful.

And that's just one of many reasons to admire The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (continuing at the Rose Theatre, Kingston until 4 January), chief among them the splendid chorus of performers from the Rose Theatre's Youth Group, which also supplied the four Pevensie children. The rotation I saw comprised Callum Cronin as a suitably pompous Peter alongside Thomy Lawson as wannabe matriarch Susan and two super turns from Gwithian Evans as a tallish but edgy and funny Edmund, and Kate Ashman as the feisty fletcher Lucy. All are wonderful and set a high bar for the two other quartets of young actors who play the roles.

The story will be familiar to many: the wartime evacuation (wonderfully realised by the company as a whole); the wardrobe; the Turkish Delight; the Witch (a spectacular, scary Kate Tydman in a nightmarish Thierry Mugler style outfit); the Lion and the coronations. There's comic relief too from Daniel Goode and Katy Secombe as fretting beavers and James Gillan as a sweet Mr Tumnus.

So far so good - but then the raw material's problems begin to kick in. Adapter Theresa Haskins has wisely stayed loyal to the book, but that does make the pace just a little pedestrian and delivers four children who don't sound like children - they sound like small middle-aged adults which, even in the midst of World War II, seems hard to believe. And Aslan (played by Richard Pryal with a big mane of hair and a loping feline gait that,in combination, I couldn't help thinking suggested an arthritic roadie for The Scorpions, despite its authenticity) is just too much of a Christ figure as he overcomes his noble death to save his people before leaving them in the hands of his disciples, the Pevensies.

Of course, most kids (and plenty of adults) will either miss the Christian Mysticism or ignore it and enjoy the battle of good and evil, with melodic songs and big fights - and why not? Children (if not children just like them) are all over the stage too, in a production which captivates utterly with its vision if not quite with its plot.