The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe roared at Queen's College in Taunton

C.S. Lewis’s classic Christian allegory is told with such energy and vibrancy that the two-hour journey seems to fly past in a kaleidoscope of beautiful imagery, exceptionally strong performances and magical set-pieces.

The talented production team clearly revere the power of story-telling and have marshalled their young charges to deliver an epic tale with authority and a great sense of style.

We are taken immediately back in time to the early 1940’s as families are waving off their evacuee children at the train station.

The tableaux here are impressively moving and along with authentic costumes, give us the mood straight away.

The Pevensie children arrive at a grand house in the country where they encounter the mysterious professor (a plummy-voiced Rufus Coombe). They are able to roam freely through the many rooms until they enter one containing the magical wardrobe.

Emma Forknall’s wonderfully innocent and sensitive Lucy is the first to arrive in the magical land of Narnia via the wardrobe.

Crunching through the snow she encounters the Faun Tumnus played by Tom Hopwood who looks perfect in the role.

Lucy is followed shortly after by her selfish brother Edmund (a thoroughly convincing Toby Haste) who immediately falls under the spell of The White Witch through strategic deployment of Turkish Delight.

The Witch is played with great gusto by a beautifully costumed Connie Hickman.

Her arrival through dry-ice on a white sleigh pulled by reindeer is genuinely impressive.

After some scepticism on the part of Lucy’s older brother and sister the four siblings finally arrive in Narnia together.

Peter is played with great passion by a frightfully earnest Thomas Russell and he is counter-balanced nicely by Ebony Dunn as the maternal Susan.

Along the way, the intrepid four are aided in their mission by Mr Beaver (A very funny Raff Evans performing in a finely-honed west-country accent) who takes them back to his dam to prepare for their journey to meet Aslan.

Mrs Beaver (a diminutive Anina Sarker) is all bustle and domesticity as she orders them all around.

Edmund has deserted the camp and makes his way to the witch’s castle where he encounters Maugrim the Wolf (a snarling Izzy Rossiter) and finds the witch in a rather different mood once she finds out he hasn’t brought his brother and sisters in tow.

The White Witch is ably supported by a whole pack of scary wolves and a couple of idiotic dwarf henchmen in the shape of Will Mugford and Joel Underwood.

Aslan (the great cat) doesn’t make an appearance until the second act but, by golly, when he does it’s worth the wait! War Horse eat-your-heart-out.

This cat is huge. Operated by three excellent puppeteers, he quickly becomes the star of the show (just as he should be) and holds the audience spellbound with his booming voice and charismatic presence.

It soon becomes clear that the dastardly White Witch has held Narnia in the cold grip of winter for many years and that she has turned to stone anyone who tried to oppose her, but Aslan’s having none of that and goes to the witch’s courtyard to breathe new life into her victims.

This is a particularly beautiful scene in which the true message begins to emerge.

What follows in the death and resurrection of Aslan and the great battle ending in the demise of the white witch and the crowning of the children is quite stunningly staged, complete with fantastic lighting and sound effects.

Lewis’s tale is unashamed in its allegorical purpose and might now seem a little dated but the power of the storytelling by this young, talented cast still moves the soul and makes one consider the possibility that there might just be something other than what seems to exist on the surface; or as the great man himself says, ‘You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body’ (C. S. Lewis).

Review by Paul Cairnes.