A walk into Narnia 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' comes to MLHS stage
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Mr. Beaver (Canon Gregoire, right) is ready to face the minions of the evil witch while (right to left) Peter (Luke Mounts), Mrs. Beaver (Olive Carrell), Susan (Claire Smith) and Lucy (Mikala Cooper) back him up in the MLHS production of ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,’ opening Thursday.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald The unicorn (Obi Aboyni, left) and Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (Canon Gregoire, right, and Olive Carrell, center) puzzle over a clue left behind in Narnia in the MLHS production of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,’ opening Thursday.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald The White Witch (Cynthia Urena) plots to keep control of Narnia and Edmund (Sam Roeber) in the MLHS production of ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” opening Thursday.
MOSES LAKE — A classic tale of sacrifice and love, adventure, magical creatures, a very wicked queen and a majestic lion comes to the Moses Lake High School stage this weekend. The MLHS Drama Club production of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” opens at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The play continues at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and there’s a matinée at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The story is based on the C.S. Lewis children’s classic, adapted for the stage by Joseph Robinette. It follows the adventures of Peter, Lucy, Edmund and Susan (Luke Mounts, Mikala Cooper, Sam Roeber and Claire Smith in the MLHS production), when they discover a magic wardrobe in an old house.
The wardrobe leads them to Narnia, where there are giants and dwarfs, talking unicorns and a beaver who needs a new sewing machine, among many other wonders. But all is not well in Narnia – it’s ruled by the evil White Witch (Cynthia Urena), whose magic has frozen it in winter for 100 years.
If the prophecy is right, the arrival of the children could mean the end of the witch and the return of the noble lion Aslan (Jacob Law). But the witch is determined to prove the prophecy wrong.
Director and drama club advisor Sabrina Haesche said she chose the play because she wanted a script that would appeal to actors and audience alike. “I read the books when I was kid and I loved the story.”
She said she thought the play would attract kids who haven’t tried the Drama Club before. “I wanted to get some newbies in here.”
“The kids have worked very hard to make this happen,” said technical director D. Jay Kendall. It took Mikala a little longer than she liked to learn Lucy’s lines, about a week past the deadline. “Very hard to remember,” she said. “Lucy has a lot of lines.”
Savannah Weston is part of the witch’s army. “We kill people,” she said. But even the witch’s cruel followers have homework; Savannah was working on geometry during Friday night’s rehearsal.
And rehearsal has to fit around homework and class and other activities, and a really bad winter that canceled school and rehearsal along with it. “It’s definitely kind of taken its toll,” Savannah said.
Nor was that the only challenge. The play requires some elaborate costumes and makeup, among them a unicorn, complete with horn. “It was really hard to figure out how to keep this on my head,” said Obi Aboyni, who plays the unicorn. The answer came with a chance find in Haesche’s classroom.
Tickets are $10 for the evening shows, $8 for the matinee and $8 for students with an ASB card.