On Friday, the Quirk-Sponberg Theater grew still as 7 p.m. drew near. The soft sound of children shushing was heard around the theater, bouncing off exposed brick walls as the lights dimmed. Children and parents sat in anticipation to see the world of author C.S. Lewis’ “Narnia” come to life as the Eastern Michigan University Theatre for the Young presented its production of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
The production has been touring elementary schools in Ypsilanti and according to the play’s director, Meriah Sage, a professor of theatre arts at EMU, the play has been performed at three schools so far. The production will tour four more schools before it ends for the semester.
The production was unusual in that it was designed in the round. There are four entrances to the stage that is situated in the middle of the audience, and action also occurs behind and beside the audience as well.
Kelly Joyce Fielder, the music director and composer of the show, has done many children’s theater tours and understand the importance of it.
“The reason we perform in gymnasiums and schools is because theater is becoming less and less accessible,” said Fielder. “It amazing to talk to the children before we perform and ask how many have seen a play, and some have never seen a play before in their lives.”
Ramona Caponegro, a children’s literature professor at EMU, spoke about C.S. Lewis’ series of children’s fantasy books.
“Truthfully they aren’t one of my all-time favorites, but they are important to the canon of children’s literature,” Caponegro said.
She wanted to see how “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” would be translated into a live production and said that seeing the book performed live is a totally different experience. The play relied on that wonder.
The props were simple in appearance but ignited a sense of imagination. Two students forming an arch with their arms made up the ubiquitous wardrobe. The play had small deviations from the book, removing Professor Kirke for example, and glossing over the World War II context present in the book.
“It was nice to be able to perform for our peers and get adult reactions,” Fielder said. “Not educated prepossess because children know the world of play and imagination better than we.”
The cast and crew discussed several of the challenges with the production after its conclusion. One of these was the creation of the great lion, Aslan.
“We didn’t want a big costume,” Sage said.
She originally wanted to have four people play the lion.
Eric Duane Floyd Jr. and Callie McKee together played the lion Aslan. McKee simply placed a hand on Floyd Jr.’s shoulder and held a rope that she swished about like a tail.
The children in the audience were engaged in the show and their reactions to what was happening affected others like a domino effect. When something was funny, like the way actor Anton P. Koyton, who played Mr. Beaver, walked on stage they were the first to laugh. During the moments in the play that were meant to be scary, some children scooted closer to their parents or when Aslan gave a thunderous roar, the children jumped a little.
Emily Lamb, the actress playing the role of Susan, was also amazed and enjoyed working with the children.
“It’s fun involving the kids,” said Lamb. “It’s really fun because you get to watch the kids’ eyes in wonder at all this.”
Rory Emily Franchy, 18, a theatre arts major, played the White Witch, which challenged her acting abilities. She said the most rewarding part of the experience was meeting all the new people in the production and then coming together as an ensemble.
“I’ve never played an antagonist before, [so] I had to figure out how to be mean to people,” Franchy said.
The story ends in a massive battle, which were actually four battles choreographed separately. Markham Byron was one of the fight choreographers for the play.
“We didn’t say here, go hit each other with sticks,” Byron said.
Sage also expressed concern over keeping the play appropriate for the age group it would be presented to.
“We had to make sure it stayed true to the story but was safe for the first grade,” Sage said.
Sage grew up with “The Chronicles of Narnia.” She said that her dad used to tell her and her sister the stories, but he would substitute the girls’ names for the names of the children in the story, so that they were the protagonists. Sage plans to remount the production next semester.
“I loved the music and interaction of the actors and the snow,” Francisco Herrera, a student from John Glenn High School, said. “It was awesome.”
