The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (touring) ★★★★★

The preset for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has a pianist on stage, dressed in army uniform and playing those familiar tunes which inspire longing and hope for better times, before the scene is rushed by a clamour of evacuees about to board trains to safety. Amongst them are the Pevensie children, Peter (Jesse Dunbar), Susan (Joanna Adaran), Edmund (Bunmi Osadolor) and Lucy (Kudzai Mangombe). And there begins the magic of the piece, richly enhanced by wonderful stage craft.

The familiar story is told at pace. Once discovered, the wardrobe – an ever-present feature on the vast Leeds Playhouse stage – is explored and in no time, Lucy is pushing through the coats into the magical world of Narnia. In this land, instantly entrancing with ethereal mummers dressed in white gowns and intoning anthems both beautiful and haunting, Lucy meets Mr Tumnus (Alfie Richards). The scene between human and faun is witty and when Richards sings, in his rich baritone, of longing for spring, it is both spine tingling and hugely relatable. Instantly establishing a great rapport, Tumnus’ conscience-wrestling regarding his loyalty to the evil White Witch or the safety of the child is real.

The Pevensie children behave as a family would: establishing Edmund as the most troubled and subversive, the fights between him and his siblings are properly angry and painful. Susan is appropriately nerdish and sensible whilst Peter does his best to present the voice of reason despite being only a boy himself. Lucy has both the innocent delight of a child and also the foot-stamping petulance of the youngest. The adult actors in these roles are believably youthful without patronising their characters.

Edmund’s encounter with the White Witch (Katy Stephens) is both terrifying and magical as she arrives on a gun carriage dragged by black-clad beasts who scarcely raise their heads but swarm malevolently across the stage – more than a nod in their costumes to German stormtroopers. Whilst Edmund is corrupted by her magical temptations, his Turkish delight literally dances in illuminated cubes.

Once all the Pevensie children have arrived in Narnia the drama accelerates. Meeting the wonderful Mr and Mrs Beaver (Ed Thorpe and Anya de Villiers) injects welcome humour and they elicit great laughs with their charm and delight. The Summer Dance song – the first perhaps in a major key – brings light, hope and joy.

Aslan (Stanton Wright) comes in two guises – both puppet and human – the two working in concert to create a majestic presence. Frissons of delight and audible gasps of wonder were heard from the audience as he strode on to the stage. His battle with the White Witch, who at one point soars above the stage, her gown smothering the armies below, and his eventual demise are created with brilliant stage trickery – too clever to spoil.

This ensemble piece with actor-musicians, playing Benji Bower and Barnaby Race’s atmospheric melodies and harsh discordant tunes throng the stage. The production staging, designed by Tom Paris, is superb, from the racing steam train to the omnipresent icy moon which eventually changes to offer glimmers of sunlight heralding the most welcome spring – there is so much to take in, it is a veritable visual and sensual delight.

Michael Fentiman’s new production, based on Sally Cookson’s original, is a perfect piece for this gloomy Winter bringing a very welcome reminder that good will triumph over evil and as the brilliant and wonderfully eccentric Professor (Kraig Thornber) explains at the outset – ‘the sun is always out there, we just have to look.’