The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe At The Gillian Lynne Theatre, Drury Lane, London Review

Reviewed by Jo Wright

The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe can’t be missed it’s ending soon so hurry and get tickets. Directed by Micheal Fentiman , Featuring puppetry, special effects, dazzling props & scenery, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe is absolutely amazing and suitable for the whole family.

We took the tube into London’s Covent Garden and used google maps to find the Gillian Lynne theatre in Drury lane. There is also a NCP carpark just next door if you wanted to drive into London.

On arrival we were met by friendly staff and given our tickets. The bar areas were very nice and had a great selection of beers wines snacks etc.

We took our seats which I thought were amazing, nice and close to the stage and decent leg room. The Gillian lynne theatre previously known as The New London theatre and was the home of CATS , for 21 years Now the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is showing until 8th January 2023.

This classic magical tale of Narnia by CS lewis is a family favourite and has stood the test of time from my childhood to my childrens and pathed the way for magical stories like Harry Potter.  

This show started with the lovely war time song “we’ll meet again don’t know where don’t know when you know we’ll meet again some sunny day” as its story tells of how four siblings are evacuated from London during the war to Professor Kirk’s house in Scotland which is where the wardrobe is found in the spare room by Lucy the younger of the siblings played by the fantastic Delainy Hayles from TV’s Holby City. Lucy is the first to go to Narnia and meets Mr Tumnus, a mystical creature. The costumes are great and the puppets are truly amazing. The sets, lighting and special effects made the magic come to life as well as plenty of laughs. Even though it’s quite dark in places I would not say it was too scary for children. The white witch, played by the beautiful and talented Samantha Womack (who was well known as Ronnie Mitchell in East Enders), had some spectacular moments and let’s say owned the whole stage at one point I won’t say too much and spoil it.

The songs, the dancing and the music all done on stage by the cast playing cellos violins and drums was so impressive. The changing of the sets in between scenes was very clever and the use of lights and flying objects also added to the magic as well as the snow falling in Narnia.

CS Lewis’s 1950 novel has sold 85 million copies and is one of the top 10 best-selling books of all time. Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter are supposed to be children and I did wonder if I’d forget adults were playing them and I did ..

Mr Tumnus the faun, talking beavers, Aslan (the noble king of Narnia) everyone was wonderful. I absolutely loved it and will recommend it to all ages My daughters and I had a lovely time and thoroughly enjoyed it I will give it 5 stars. It was faultless.

Rating: 5/5

The show is on until 8th January 2023.

Tickets cost from £19.50 (all tickets include a £1.70 restoration levy)

For more information or to book tickets please visit The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Gillian Lynne Theatre, London – Official Box Office (lwtheatres.co.uk)

166 Drury Lane, Holborn, London, WC2B 5PW

…