Summer Youth Theater Conservatory takes audiences to Narnia in this year’s production

For the past three weeks, a group of lions, beavers, witches, and “sons of Adam” have been putting together a production of the classic C.S. Lewis tale, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” The play is the culmination of the Summer Youth Theater Conservatory sponsored by Lynn Canal Community Players.

Fluffy confetti snow powders the stage. There’s a deep purple hue cast on the backdrop. Coat racks filled with clothes from another era spill out from the wings.

The cast of the Summer Youth Theater Conservatory is walking through some tricky scenes from “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”

This isn’t some silly production to help bored elementary and middle school students get through the summer though. Director Marcos Najera treats his cast with respect, and he expects a lot out of them. Many members of the cast have been coming to the conservatory for several years.

“What’s been fun for me has been to watch what they have done in other shows and go, ‘Oh, this young person can sing. This young person likes dance or movement,'” Najera says. “So we thought what is it they need to work on? What are they not good at? And on the other hand what are they really good at, and how can we really grow what they are good at while at the same time identifying those weak spots or trouble zones so we can give some extra support there.”

Najera is a theater director and actor from Los Angeles. He had heard about Haines for years from his close friend Juge Gregg who grew up here. He says that the local environment inspired the setting he has tried to develop for the play.

“One of the things that I asked the students to do is to rehearse outside in the woods and the trees here in Haines because in many ways Haines is like a Narnia; Haines is like a magical village where you all have winter for a very long time and then you have these days like today that are very beautiful. And so the young people in the cast, they already know a magical land because they live in a magical land,” Najera says.

Najera reached out to local resident Tresham Gregg for help creating costumes and set pieces. There is a notable influence from Haines’ natural environment.

For example, to the left of the stage is a raised mezzanine-like area that has been converted into a cozy beaver dam made of driftwood picked from the shore. That’s where Mrs. Beaver lives, played by Vivian Shallcross.

“She is a beaver, and then she kind of helps Lucy, Susan, Peter and Edmond get to Cair Paravel and become the kings and queens of Narnia,” Shallcross says. 

Shallcross enjoys being able to tell stories and make new friends through acting. She says that for many people it takes time to learn to speak loud on the stage, but she’s learned some good tricks.  

“If you focus on something that’s very far away, then you want that thing to hear you very well then you want to speak loud enough for that thing to hear. Or if there’s a deaf old grandma and you want her to hear, speak really loud,” Shallcross

Hayden Jimenez plays the witch’s personal bodyguard, a wolf named Fenris Ulf. He says he played one of the bad guys last year too. It’s a role he enjoys.

“You get to do stuff you usually don’t do. I get to swing a club at people. I get to yell a bunch. It’s just fun,” Jimenez says. 

Jimenez has been coming to the summer theater conservatory for several years. When asked what he likes about acting, he says it’s the thrill of it.  

“You’re really tense before you go on stage, and then as soon as you get on stage it just kind of all disappears and it’s really fun,” Jimenez says. 

The show premieres at 7 p.m. on Saturday, followed by a 4 p.m. matinee on Sunday. Tickets are on sale now at the Babbling Book on Main Street and will be available at the door.