When everything is in chaos, what can you control? That is the question Todd Sandman, executive director at the Muncie Civic Theatre, hopes to answer through his production of “The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe.”
The play premieres at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Muncie Civic Theatre. The play will continue for three consecutive weekends, running until Sept. 7.
After reading the novel, written by C.S. Lewis, and watching the movie adaptation, Sandman was struck by how children were evacuated to the countryside during the 1940’s.
The plot deals with four children who wander into Narnia from an old wardrobe and must defeat the White Witch. Lucy, the youngest of the Pevensie children, is the center of Sandman’s adaptation.
“The play is told from her perspective,” Sandman said. “She awakes into the dream world of Narnia from the explosions heard outside.”
Lucy is double cast by 10-year-old Eleanore Cooper and 11-year-old Gracie Evans, where they will play her in alternating productions. Both have had experience in theater, but for each actress this play is different.
This will be Evans’ first main stage production for Muncie Civic, while Cooper is working with speaking in a British accent outside of her own bedroom.
“I like doing a British dialect at home, but this is my first show where I’ve spoken with an accent,” Cooper said.
Cooper found inspiration to get into theater from her sister Paige, who started when she was 7 years old. She has appeared in over 15 productions.
Evans enjoys playing Lucy, a character who is imaginative and seeks out the unknown.
“She’s very adventurous, always works hard at the things she does, and she never gives up,” Evans said. “It’s fun to play such a strong character.”
While this is Evans’ first main stage show, she has also appeared in other kids’ shows for Muncie Civic such as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “A Christmas Carol.” Evans has had to get used to the blocking or stage movements of a main stage production, but she enjoys working with the new people she has met on the set.
Sandman decided to take an industrial stance for the play, with Lucy and her siblings having to deal with the rubble of a city in Great Britain after an explosion.
“This play shows how kids put on a brave face after war,” Sandman said.
In “The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe,” Lucy has three older siblings, Susan, Peter and Edmund. Peter, played by 17-year-old Vincent Trejo, is viewed as the protector of the family. Susan, played by freshman radiography major Aurora Inman, is the more mature and quiet of the siblings, while Edmund, played by 14-year-old Kevin Kratz, is rebellious and strays away from his siblings.
“I have a hard time acting rude,” Kratz said. “I’m not used to being mean to my siblings.”
This is Trejo’s first production for Muncie Civic. He emphasized that it has been a great way to gain experience outside of his time performing in high school plays.
“It opened up my view, working with people of different ages and having them help,” he said.
Like Evans, Trejo has found the blocking to be difficult to master.
“I have to be protective of my family, be the bigger man,” he said.
For the play, masks designed by Jonathan Becker, an acting professor at Ball State, are used for the creatures of Narnia. Sandman believes this show will teach its audience a great deal of messages.
“This play gives girls power to stand up and fight, that it’s not just for the boys,” he said. “This story is empowering and shows how young children can deal with the realities of war by using their imagination.”
