Boston College’s recent adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as a play is fun for an afternoon, but fails to carry through its Christian themes.
C.S. Lewis’ original fairytale transports the Gospel message into a mystical realm called Narnia, a land of talking animals and mythical creatures that is ruled by the evil White Witch. The White Witch embodies Satan, who squares off against Jesus, symbolized by a great and powerful lion named Aslan. Four Children, the Pevensies, enter into this mystical world and are called to have faith in Aslan in order to defeat the White Witch and her armies.
Narnia is inherently difficult to adapt for a play. The book features many talking animals, but any costume or puppet verges on the unintentionally comedic. In the play, the playwright Luke Jorgensen solves the problem by changing the entire story into a comedy where the puppets do not stand out. Unfortunately, when you make the 1:1 Gospel allegory into a comedy, you make Jesus into a joke.
The problems begin before the Children even reach Narnia. When Lucy Pevensie originally discovers Narnia through the back of a wardrobe, none of her siblings believe her. In the book, a wise old professor reproduces C.S. Lewis’ “lord, liar, or lunatic” argument to say that if Lucy never lies, and does not seem mad, then she must be telling the truth. The scene serves to show children that there are trustworthy adults ready to believe in the supernatural, and to establish that Narnia and its Christian identity are more than merely Lucy’s imagination.
The play adds two jokes that undercut these themes. First, the professor explains the “lord, liar or lunatic” argument with intentionally confusing symbolic logic that goes way above the kids’ (and the audiences’) heads. Then, to drive home that logic is not really important, the professor launches into an overblown speech about how imagination is the only thing that really matters. Unlike the book, the play tells children that Narnia is just the product of an overactive imagination, of which adults will be indulgent at best.
Next, Narnia itself loses its Christian identity. Upon getting to Narnia, a fawn named Mr. Tumnus explains the White Witch’s evil with the book’s most famous quote: “It’s always winter but never Christmas.” This succinctly shows that the Christian is the good (all kids love Christmas), and that the White Witch opposes it. In the play Mr. Tumnus adds “…or Hanukkah, or Kwanza, or any of those other holidays.” Setting aside why these holidays would even exist in the land of Christian allegory, their addition makes the play inclusive at the expense of its Christian theme. Father Christmas is edited out for similar reasons.
Likewise, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver are played almost exclusively for comedic relief. Originally, they modeled true faith in Aslan (Christ) even when things are difficult and the world is ruled by an evil queen (Satan). In the books, it is the Beavers’ faith that inspires the children to trust Aslan themselves. In the play, all of this is cut in favor of sex jokes, political commentary, and a running gag about a weasel. It’s hard to make genuine virtue the butt of a joke. For the play, it’s better to make “dam” puns instead.
Finally there is the matter of Aslan himself. One of the pivotal elements that separates Lewis’ story from the Gospel is that Edmund, the family’s Judas stand-in, is redeemed by Aslan. Aslan suffers death and is resurrected to save Edmund alone. This teaches kids two lessons. First, that Christ loves each individual enough to die on the cross for them uniquely. Second, that no sin is too great to repent and receive forgiveness.
The play eviscerates the second lesson. Unlike in the book, Edmund never repents, he just starts acting nicer. Aslan does not forgive, he just moves on like Edmund had always been one of the good children. In essence, Edmund never receives the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
This play’s bill repeatedly promoted it as “for the kids,” but what is truly best for the children? Is it sex jokes and comedic relief, or is it to feed them on Christian truth? One of Aslan’s quotes best sums up this play’s answer. Aslan tells the Children that he hopes they never have to figure out who he really is. But Aslan is Christ, nothing could be more “for the kids” than that truth.
Featured image courtesy of BCHeights
Nick Letts is a former “radical atheist” who converted to Protestantism as a senior in High School, and then converted to Catholicism as a Junior in college. He studies philosophy in the Morrissey College, and loves nothing more than to curl up with a good book. He is engaged to his lovely fiancée Katherine Brown.
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