The first rehearsal of the New Year was primarily focussed
on scenes involving the White Witch and Edmund. This commenced with the iconic
scene when Edmund arrives in Narnia for the first time. This is a famous scene that
is largely engrained within the consciousness of popular culture – particularly
because of the Turkish Delight.
The iconography of this scene is something that makes this
kind of production particularly exciting: to create such a moment within a live
medium. There is so much potential within this scene, and so we are hoping to
keep everything intact. One thing that bothers me about the recent film
adaptation is that this scene is incredibly rushed, and a lot of the
significance gets lost amidst some throwaway comedic moments.
This really can’t be the case as the scene is very
significant with regards to the plot. Edmund succumbs to temptation, and the
seeds are sown for an eventual betrayal of his siblings. The scene also alludes
to several significant plot details which will come into greater significance
later on, such as the prophesy involving two sons of Adam and two daughters of
Eve.
There was some alarming beaching of health and safety,
involving an unsanctioned temporary sledge. This lead to some hesitation during
the first run-through of this scene, and consequently resulted in corpsing –
which was further exasperated on certain lines. The “my house is between those
hills” line reared its ugly head once more! Nevertheless, the first run-through
allowed for everyone to get the laughter and mistakes out of their systems, and
so the second run-through was a lot smoother.
We then moved ahead to the ending to Act One, in which
Edmund arrives at the White Witch’s palace – and very quickly learns that he
has made a terrible mistake. This is a very significant turning point for
Edmund’s character. Having fallen under to enchantments of the White Witch he
has shunned his friends and family in favour of her. He has been the sceptic
amongst his siblings, and has shown little sympathy towards the Narnian’s and
their plight. There has always been a glimmer of doubt for Edmund concerning
his decision – as he’s making his way to the Witch’s palace he talks out-loud
to himself, as though trying to feel justified in his own reasoning.
In this scene the Witch drops all pretense of being a kind
and courteous figure, and reveals her true self. It is a very dramatic moment, one
that many of us remember being scared of when watching the BBC version as
children (”How dare you come alone!”). We took a little bit of inspiration from
the film adaptation in our script, and so rather than erupting as soon as
Edmund arrives, the Witch lulls him into a false sense of security first.
This scene really raises the stakes, and places the Witch in
a very powerful position. Consequently it seems like a logical point to close
out Act One. The ending to the scene is very much like a cliffhanger ending to
a television episode, hopefully enough to keep audiences in suspense during an
interval, before resuming.
If we were using child actors there would be a limit to how
roughly we could treat Edmund, but since we are using older performers to play
the children, Edmund gets treated very harshly in the ensuing scenes. There are
moments when the implications are rather alarming, when you consider that the
character is ten-years old.
The most problematic scene of this rehearsal was the scene
in which a group of Narnian animals have just been visited by Father Christmas
and are celebrating in the woods, when the White Witch chances upon them. There
was more corpsing here than in any other scene, which was a by-product of ‘animal
acting’ and having to pretend to be a statue, but being unable to hold it
together.
Fortunately there was plenty of time to work on this scene
and address the sticky-areas. This is scene that really cannot afford to be
funny, because it is a very sad moment: a group of celebrating animals are
effectively ‘killed’ by the Witch. When this scene occurs in the book, it is
mentioned that Edmund – for the first time – feels sorry for others, and not
just himself. He is also carrying a lot of guilt at this stage. The cruelty of
the White Witch and her contempt for other creatures is showcased in this
scene, and continues to build-up her power and status.
Quote of the day: “I am essentially Jesus-Cat!” Chris Harknett (Contemplating the
responsibility of playing Aslan)
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