Towards the end of our 2023 production of C.S. Lewis’s classic tale of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (LWW), two of the Pevensie children are alone on stage and Susan asks:
“Peter, do you think we’ll ever find our way back to Narnia again?” and he replies, “If we’re lucky, Susan. If we’re very, very lucky.”
Indeed.
After finishing the LWW in 1950, did Lewis know that he would go on to write 6 more stories to form The Chronicles of Narnia? Probably not because any number of things (such as wars, pandemics, death, illness, accidents, bankruptcies) could prevent an artist like Lewis from completing a project. This is what makes the creative process so precious—it is precarious! The LWW was initially intended as a standalone book. But luckily its popularity among readers and the support of publishers encouraged Lewis to send the Pevensies back to Narnia. Similarly, this was the third time that 9th Hour has presented the LWW to Ottawa audiences and we hope to do so again…but who knows?
We are not meant for a living death; we are meant instead for celebration, to sing, dance, laugh, feast, pursue truth, nurture goodness, create beauty, to fight as soldiers in Aslan’s army of light and love.
That is why, for me at least, it is always a privilege and a pleasure to immerse myself in the LWW--to read it, to see it come alive through a creative team of artists, to research its background, to think about its themes and motifs, to discuss them with others, as we did in our meetings, rehearsals, podcasts, and these posts. Such activities foster a special community (about 40 people in this case)--of volunteers sacrificing time, energy, even money, who then work intensely towards a common goal over a 6 month period. I won’t list them here but there were many formidable challenges to overcome from beginning to end because a project like this is always in some jeopardy. So, why bother?
The answer for me lies in the LWW story itself. The great lion, Aslan, who has sung Narnia into existence, is killed by the White Witch at the Stone Table. [I’m struck by the motif of stones in Narnia since stones are living things but not really alive and often used as symbols of stability and permanence—stones are a kind of living death if you will.] But Aslan is resurrected and returns to a Stone Table now cracked by the power of a deeper magic, one that organizes life in Narnia around a law written before time, written into the Stone Table itself, by the Emperor Beyond the Seas—a law that leads to the Stone Table cracking and death itself working backwards.
Such activities foster a special community... of volunteers sacrificing time, energy, even money, who then work intensely towards a common goal over a 6 month period.
For me, that is what a good creative project is all about—to push death backwards. We are not meant for a Narnia where it is always winter and never Christmas and ruled by a White Witch with the power to turn her enemies into stone. We are not meant for a living death; we are meant instead for celebration, to sing, dance, laugh, feast, pursue truth, nurture goodness, create beauty, to fight as soldiers in Aslan’s army of light and love.
As we start a new year, I urge all artists to use their creativity to extinguish the darkness wherever they find it. Be brave, be bold, work with others of like-minded creativity to expand human flourishing. Each time we do something creative in that spirit, we crack stones and push death backwards.
For me, that is what a good creative project is all about—to push death backwards.
GEORGE DUTCH is 9th Hour Theatre Company's Associate Artistic Director and was also part of the directing team for the 2023 production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Listen to George discuss the story's themes on the Telling The Story podcast.