Production Meeting Blog 30.09.13

On Monday 23 September, auditions were held and casting decisions were made for The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, the Christmas Show at Lincoln Performing Arts Centre running throughout December. The cast is made up of final year performing arts students at University of Lincoln studying the Children and Theatre module.

With just three male students on the course, this presented some initial casting challenges. Christopher Greenhall and Thomas Baines play the two male leads, Peter and Edmund respectively, while Christopher Mudd plays the Professor and a number of other male characters as the Professor only has a small number of scenes. Other male characters will be played by girls, but won’t affect the story or change the script in any way. The first full read through with the cast was held on Monday 30 September, with rehearsals set to continue over the coming weeks.

The cast line up is as follows:-

Rebecca Baines Rumblebuffin / Fox / Deer / Tree and as cast

Thomas Baines Edmund and as cast

Kayleigh Brewster Warden / Aslan and as cast

Jessica Golby Mr Beaver and as cast

Christopher Greenhall Peter and as cast

Sophie Hagger Aslan and as cast

Tabitha Hilton-Berry Maugrim and as cast

Emily Holt Susan and as cast

Kirsty Jakins Satyr / Unicorn / Lion / Tree and as cast

Jessica Jarvis White Witch and as cast

Charlotte Mooney Mother Christmas / Eagle / Leopard 2 / Tree and as cast

Christopher Mudd Professor / Wraith / Hag / Witch’s reindeer 1 and as cast

Lauren Simpson Mrs Beaver and as cast

Chloe Smith Mrs Macready / Wolf / Cruel / Witch’s reindeer 2 and as cast

Elizabeth Soper Grumpskin and as cast

Emma Taylor Small Squirrel / Centaur / Leopard 1 / Tree and as cast

Kirsty Taylor Lucy and as cast

Jozie Wade Porter / Aslan and as cast

Lauren Watson Mr Tumnus

With the cast now in place, costume designer Helen Symonds is able to begin finalising costume designs to fit the cast for each of the characters they are playing. Quick and easy costume changes is a necessity, so consideration has been given to allow this through use of velcro and other materials. In some scenes, costumes can be adapted simply by adding or removing items of clothing. Prioritisation has been given to production of costumes for the main characters, ready for a photo shoot scheduled for mid October to use for publicity materials to promote the show. Check out some of Helen’s costume designs below.

Technical Manager Michael Hoyle presented 3D plans of the main auditorium, showing how the performance space will look in relation to the audience. Rather than using the traditional theatre setup, this performance will take place in-the-round, with the stage area in the centre of the auditorium and the audience surrounding the stage on each side. Careful thought and planning has to be given to staging, to ensure all audience members can view the performance regardless of where they are sat. Director Dominic Symonds, as part of the teaching module, will address how to approach these challenges with the cast in the coming weeks during rehearsals. Click on the links below to see Michael Hoyle’s stage plans.

In the meantime, Marketing Manager Ross Ironfield is preparing promotional activities to advertise the show – including printed adverts in local press and magazines, radio ads, billboards, banners and more. Promotion began early in the summer to allow for schools to book their Christmas trips ready for the new term. A competition open to University of Lincoln students was held at the end of last semester to design the artwork for the poster design. The winning student, Chelsea Mickleborough is a final year Science student – view her artwork in full below.

Keep an eye out on the website for further updates on our Production Blog.