The Liar, The Bitch and The Wardrobe

Review by Cal

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The Liar, The Bitch and The Wardrobe is an adult pantomime parody of CS Lewis’ beloved Chronicles of Narnia. The year is 1939 and Britain is at war; as two evacuees flee London to lead a simpler life in the countryside a wardrobe has other ideas and transports them to Narnia, where they meet some well-known (for the audience) characters with some noticeable differences.

Jokes drop like bombs in the war, each one landing successfully - if, as with any pantomime, you’re up to date on the year’s affairs and pop culture references. When shows rely heavily on smut and crudeness for their jokes, it can become tired and lazy but writer Joshua Coley seems to have found the perfect line to flirt with so as to not make a mockery of his own work.

As the boys are evacuated from London; audiences are introduced to a world of magic, mystery, and the use of multirole. There are many characters, all of whom are larger than life, packed into this show and the cast of four do well to juggle the range of characters thrown their ways. It could be argued that the technique is ever so slightly overused by the end of the production but that doesn’t take away from the success of it, nor does it take away from the phenomenal work displayed by the cast.

There were a few moments, more so in act two than anything else, where the production borders on chaotic - even more so than a traditional pantomime - but something about the madness of those moments somewhat works in favour of the production in a way that I can’t begin to describe.

Jimmy Chamberlain and Matthew Hartley worked wonders on the set design for this production, highlighting the beauty of smaller, more intimate performance spaces. Most of the set pieces were double sided and, when rotated, changed the space to transport characters from one scene to the next with great ease.

The Liar, The Bitch and The Wardrobe is playing a strictly limited festive run through to December 22. Let your inner child out of the closet for a night of love and laughs by booking tickets now!