Bewitched: Pupils at Standard school go on Narnia tour

 
Pic: Nigel Howard
Lindsay Watling26 June 2012

Children from the Evening Standard’s “adopted” primary school enjoyed a behind-the-scenes peek at the stage production of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Forty pupils from St Mary’s primary in Battersea were treated to a tour at The threesixty Theatre in Kensington Gardens.

Last year the Evening Standard pledged to help turn round the struggling school by sending in 85 literacy volunteers as part of our Get London Reading campaign.

The night out was a reward to mark the school’s commitment to the project. Children aged between eight and 11 had the chance to play with Aslan on the circular stage and met members of the cast and crew before watching the show inspired by CS Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia.

Adebayo Ayoku, 11, said: “I enjoyed it a lot. There were a lot of good special effects. I got scared of it.”

Kamara Tringham, 10, said her favourite part was when Aslan vanished into a stone, because it was a “really good trick”.

Shania Coyle, 10, is already a few pages into the book. She added: “My best part was when the Snow Queen was trying to kill the lion and all the fire was going off.”

The Get London Reading initiative was prompted by figures that showed one in four children in the capital leaves school struggling to read.

Charlie Burnell of The threesixty Theatre and the show’s producer, said: “Reading and the theatre marry up with one another beautifully.

“Reading provides the spark that ignites your imagination, but at the same time, it requires something of you. I hope this will have the kids rushing home to read it.” The show is running through the summer.

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