A Magical World Behind the Wardrobe Arrives in Aberdeen
A beloved children’s tale comes to life on stage at His Majesty’s Theatre
Stepping into another world is irresisable, especially when it starts with a dusty old wardrobe and a snow-covered forest. From Tuesday 17 to Saturday 21 June, C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe brings its West End revival to Aberdeen, transforming His Majesty’s Theatre into the enchanted land of Narnia.
After a critically-acclaimed run in London in 2022 and 2023, this touring production has already received praise for the way it balances nostalgia with invention. The familiar story of Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter leaving wartime Britain for a place of fauns and talking animals is still there, but it’s been refreshed with clever stagecraft and a versatile ensemble.
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Open Road presents a screening of Meet the Buchanans, an off-beat documentary about the first Clan Buchanan Chief in over 300 years. With missing historical records, much of the inauguration ceremony is improvised, offering a fresh take on the role of Clans today.
Join director Barbara Orton and Professor Alison Lumsden for a post-screening Q&A. Catch it at Fittie Community Hall on Friday 6 June at 7pm, doors open at 6.30pm. Tickets are £5, pay by card or cash.
Craft, puppetry and collective imagination
Directed by Michael Fentiman, the show leans heavily on the physicality of theatre. Puppetry, movement, and a cast that shifts fluidly between roles make the performance feel less like a re-enactment and more like a living storybook. In Fentiman’s own words, the show is “a celebration of the possibilities of the collective imagination,” says Fentiman, “and the boundless wonders of individual skill.”
That sense of craft is part of what gives this production its charm. The creatures of Narnia aren’t just CGI approximations but handmade and performed in real time, drawing you into a world that feels both immediate and handmade.
Seventy-five years on
This year marks 75 years since Lewis’s book was first published, and with more than 85 million copies sold worldwide, its grip on the imagination hasn’t let go. This stage version doesn’t try to modernise the story unnecessarily. Instead, it leans into the wonder that made the book so enduring in the first place.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe runs at His Majesty’s Theatre from 17–21 June 2025. You can find tickets and more details at Aberdeen Performing Arts.
