2016 STUDY GUIDEProduction Co-Sponsors 2016 STUDY GUIDE EDUCATION PROGRAM PARTNER THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE BY C. S. LEWIS, DRAMATIZED BY ADRIAN MITCHELL DIRECTOR TIM CARROLL TOOLS FOR TEACHERS sponsored by INDIVIDUAL THEATRE SPONSORS Support for the 2016 Support for the 2016 Support for the 2016 Support for the 2016 season of the Festival season of the Avon season of the Tom season of the Studio Theatre is generously Theatre is generously Patterson Theatre is Theatre is generously provided by provided by the generously provided by provided by Claire & Daniel Birmingham family Richard Rooney & Sandra & Jim Pitblado Bernstein Laura Dinner CORPORATE THEATRE PARTNER Sponsor for the 2016 season of the Tom Patterson Theatre Cover photography by Don Dixon. Table of Contents The Place The Stratford Festival Story ........................................................................................ 1 The Play The Author: C.S. Lewis ................................................................................................ 3 The Playwright: Adrian Mitchell .................................................................................. 3 Plot Synopsis ............................................................................................................... 4 Sources, Origins and Stage History ............................................................................ 5 Cast of Characters ....................................................................................................... 6 The Production Artistic Team and Cast ................................................................................................ 7 Lesson Plans and Activities The Ball Game ........................................................................................................ 8 Character Cast Party ........................................................................................... .12 Courage ............................................................................................................... 18 The Narnia Town Hall Debate on Edmund ......................................................... 21 Discussion Topics ............................................................................................... 31 Resources ..................................................................................................... 32 sun of York.” Those words marked the THE triumphant end to what had sometimes seemed a hopeless struggle against the odds to turn Patterson’s dream into a STRATFORD reality – and the beginning of an astonishing new chapter in Canadian STORY theatre history. The other production of that inaugural six-week season, a modern- That Stratford, Ontario, is the home of the dress version of All’s Well That Ends Well, largest classical repertory theatre in North opened the following night, confirming the America is ultimately attributable to the opinion of celebrated novelist Robertson dream of one man, Stratford-born Davies that the new Festival was an journalist Tom Patterson. achievement “of historic importance not only in Canada, but wherever theatre is taken seriously – that is to say, in every civilized country in the world.” Time proved the truth of Davies’ words, for the Festival’s pillared, porticoed thrust stage revolutionized the performance of classical and contemporary theatre in the latter half of the 20th century and inspired the design of more than a dozen other In the early 1950s, seeing the economy of major venues around the world, including his home town endangered by the the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, the withdrawal of the railway industry that had Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Centre and, sustained it for nearly 80 years, Patterson in England, the Chichester Festival conceived the idea of a theatre festival Theatre, the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield devoted to the works of William and the Olivier Theatre at the Royal Shakespeare. His vision won the support National Theatre in London. Over the not only of Stratford City Council and an years, the Festival has made some enthusiastic committee of citizens, but amendments to the original design of also of the legendary British actor and Moiseiwitsch’s stage, without changing its director Tyrone Guthrie, who agreed to essential format. become the proposed festival’s first Artistic Director. The Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada was incorporated as a legal entity on October 31, 1952. A giant canvas tent was ordered from a firm in Chicago, and in the parklands by Stratford’s Avon River work began on a concrete amphitheatre at the centre of which was to be a revolutionary thrust stage created to Guthrie’s specifications by internationally renowned theatrical designer Tanya Moiseiwitsch. From the balcony of that stage, on the At the end of the 1956 season, the giant night of July 13, 1953, actor Alec canvas tent that had housed the Festival’s Guinness spoke the opening lines of first four seasons was dismantled for the Richard III: “Now is the winter of our last time to make way for a new and discontent/ Made glorious summer by this permanent facility to be erected around The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Stratford Festival 1 2016 Study Guide the existing stage. Designed by architect Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Robert Fairfield, the new building would be Theatre. one of the most distinctive in the world of the performing arts: its circular floor plan Stratford Festival performances take place and crenellated roof paying striking tribute in four distinct stages: to the Festival’s origins under canvas. Festival Theatre In the years since its first season, the Stratford Festival has set benchmarks for the production not only of Shakespeare, Molière, the ancient Greeks and other great dramatists of the past, but also of such 20th-century masters as Samuel Beckett, Bertolt Brecht, Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen, Eugene O’Neill and Avon Theatre Tennessee Williams. In addition to acclaimed productions of the best in operetta and musical theatre, it has also showcased–and in many cases premièred– works by outstanding Canadian and other contemporary playwrights. Tom Patterson Theatre Its artists have included the finest actors, directors and designers in Canada, as well as many from abroad. Among the internationally renowned performers who have graced its stages are Alan Bates, Brian Bedford, Douglas Campbell, Len Cariou, Brent Carver, Hume Cronyn, Brian Studio Theatre Dennehy, Colm Feore, Megan Follows, Lorne Greene, Paul Gross, Uta Hagen, Julie Harris, Martha Henry, William Hutt, James Mason, Eric McCormack, Loreena McKennitt, Richard Monette, John Neville, Nicholas Pennell, Christopher Plummer, Sarah Polley, Douglas Rain, Kate Reid, For interactive classroom activities related to Jason Robards, Paul Scofield, William the Stratford Festival, go to the CBC Digital Shatner, Maggie Smith, Jessica Tandy, Archives: http://bit.ly/Yy7eK6 Peter Ustinov and Al Waxman. Drawing audiences of more than 400,000 each year, the Festival season now runs from April to November, with productions being presented in four unique theatres. It offers an extensive program of educational and enrichment activities for students, teachers and other patrons, and operates its own in-house school of professional artist development: The The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Stratford Festival 2 2016 Study Guide THE AUTHOR: C. S. LEWIS Clive Staples Lewis (1898 to 1963) was a British novelist, poet, academic and critic – and arguable one of the most influential writers of his day. He taught at Magdalen College, Oxford University (1925 to 1954) and Magdalene College, Cambridge University (1954 to 1963) where he was elected Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature. At Oxford, he was close friends with J.R.R. Tolkien and they were part of a literary group known as the Inklings. Although he fell away from the Church as a young man, he returned to the Anglican Church in his early 30s and his faith was a great influence of many of his subsequent writings including Mere Christianity, Miracles and The Problem of Pain. He wrote more than 30 books including Mere Christianity, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the acknowledged classics in The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures. In 2013, on the 50th anniversary of his death, Lewis was commemorated with a memorial in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. THE PLAYWRIGHT: Adrian Mitchell http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/adrian-mitchell-poet-and-playwright-whose-work-was-driven-by-his-pacifist-politics-12 08517.html Poet, novelist and playwright Adrian Mitchell (1932 to 2008) dramatized The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. His work for the Royal Shakespeare Company also includes Peter Brook’s US and the English version of Peter Weiss’s Marat/Sade. His original plays were influenced by the works of William Blake, Mark Twain and Erik Satie, as well as works from the Spanish Golden Age and the Russian classics. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Stratford Festival 3 2016 Study Guide ABOUT The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe SYNOPSIS OF THE PLOT On a September night in 1939, the Pevensie children – Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy – board a train from London to the English countryside to escape the air raids. They arrive at the country house of Professor Kirk. One day while exploring their new home, the children come across a bare room containing only a wardrobe. Beyond the racks of fur