ESSPA'S Wardrobe provides passport to Narnia

Just as the evacuee children in C.S. Lewis' classic tale The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe escaped the Blitz for a land of imagination, so East Sussex School of Performing Arts enabled large and appreciative De La Warr Pavilion houses to put reality behind them for a while.

There was magic in the air at the pavilion. How else could ESSPA founder Teena Symonds and her hard-working team have put more than 190 aspiring young singers, dancers, actors and actresses on a single stage?

How else could they have conjured so many electrifying individual performances, created the evocative opening scene with its bombing, its name-ticketed youngsters and its farewells?

And how else could the evil White Witch's final downfall have been captured in such a climactic fight scene?

Each year ESSPA seems to pile triumph on triumph.

Not the least element in the undoubted success of this production of Irita Kutchmy's skilled musical adaptation of the novel was its strong allegory.

We not only had a tyrannical male White Witch for added evil power but for the parallel with Hitler.

As usual, the whole edifice was tailored as a showcase for the training ESSPA gives.

With choreography by Kym Giggins and Teena Symonds, musical direction by Jennifer Miles and production design by James Symonds, nothing was left to chance.

Thus the production was strong in each of its elements; popular songs like We're Going To See The Country and Wish Me Luck; beautifully created dance scenes; some outstanding solo singing; compelling performances by the talented principals - and all of this underpinned by Lewis' enduringly popular story-line.

If anything, the opening Blitz scene was a trifle too effective. Wednesday's audience were coughing and fanning themselves as stage-smoke billowed into the auditorium, obscuring the evacuees as they set forth.

But by the time Lucy (convincingly played by Mollie Tucker), became the first to step from the wardrobe into the wintry world of Narnia the spell was cast, the audience captivated.

The family foursome were adroitly cast, Mollie being accompanied by the equally accomplished and stage-confident Charlie Welford as brother Edmund; Jackson Tigwell as Peter and Emma Webb as Susan.

That the White Witch's gender-transfer worked so well was due in no small part to the menace given to the role by Adam Smith.

This was counterpoised by the heroic nobility of Alex Newsome's Aslan, a lion surely symbolic of war-years willingness to sacrifice all in the fight against evil.

Outstanding among the vocal contributions was the beautiful voice of Eden Richards, who played Mrs Beaver to James Taylor's Mr Beaver.

In a production where vignettes served to enhance the enjoyment of an entirely pleasing show, Lucy Puddefoot's chirpy little Robin will be fondly remembered.

But The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe should not be viewed as a one-off success. Rather, it is merely the latest of a series which demonstrate what a wealth of young talent there is within the community.

It only requires a magic wardrobe - or in this case a training medium like ESSPA - to bring it burgeoning forth.

Thank you for transporting us away from unpalatable reality for an evening.