The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe at Kensington Gardens

Goold brings Lion to Kensington Gardens

Published 3 January 2012

Rupert Goold will co-direct a new production of C.S. Lewis’s classic The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe in Kensington Gardens this summer using threesixty’s ground breaking surround video staging.

The family show, which Goold will co-direct with Michael Fentiman, will play from 8 May to 9 September in threesixty’s revolutionary theatre tent which was first seen in 2009 with Tanya Ronder’s immersive adaptation of Peter Pan.

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe will invite audiences to experience the magic of Narnia like never before with visually spectacular 360 degree video and enchanting puppetry. Lewis’s famous story sees four siblings enter a mysterious world through a wardrobe door. The children must battle alongside new found friends to bring happiness back to the land of Narnia and end the evil White Witch’s eternal winter.

Olivier Award-winning director Goold is Artistic Director of Headlong theatre – for which he has directed hit shows including Earthquakes In London, Enron and Six Characters In Search Of An Author – and an Associate Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company where he has directed numerous critically acclaimed productions including Romeo And Juliet and The Tempest.

Speaking about the family production, Goold said: “What I hope to evoke is the power of faith and the danger of tyranny in a rougher more elemental telling of the story. I’m thrilled to be working again with artists who have been at the heart of my recent work at Headlong and the RSC and can’t wait to be working in the round again in the exciting possibilities the threesixty tent offers.”

Co-director Fentiman worked with Goold as Associate Director on the RSC’s Romeo And Juliet and will direct the forthcoming RSC/Headlong co-production of Titus Andronicus. The director’s other credits include Crackers at the Belgrade theatre and Blue/Orange at the Cockpit theatre.

Casting details for The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe have yet to be announced.

CM

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