Practically
everyone knows the story of The Lion King. They have seen it either live on
broadway or the west end or on either one or both of Disney’s film version of this
spectacular production which was rumored to have been inspired by the
Kenyan countryside as well our fauna and flora.
They know
that it’s a story about
succession, toxic jealous, envy, and treachery leading to the murder of
one brother by another. It’s also about the beauty of Africa and the humanizing
of its wildlife .
So when the
Banda school decided to stage this award-winning musical, adapted and directed
by another award-winning actor=singer Emma whithill, (who will be leaving the
school for greener pastures soon), many theatre lovers of her work with KADS,
(The kenya amateur dramatic society) came to see her last musical before she
left the country. They gave her and her cast and crew multiple standing
ovations for their marvelous performance.
Now became
the issue of whether all of the elements of the show fit together at every
level of its performance. The level of appreciation had to be high even if the
cast were just 10 to 12 years old. There were numerous professions working behind
the scenes to ensure all of those puzzle parts came together perfectly. Those
elements include everything from the adapted and edited
script, sound, vocalists, music and makeup to the costuming, including
the masks and headdresses, set designs, and acting, including the transitions
between the young Prince to the older King who came back home (like a prodigal
son) to claim his entitlement as the Lion King Simba would eventually have to
battle with his greedy uncle shark who’d stolen simba’s crown while looting the
wealth, including the food and fortunes from his own people out of greed and
selfishness.
We must begin
with the costuming, including the headdresses, masks, and makeup. All together
one could see they were created by artists. What was most striking when we walked
into Banda’s social hall were the dazzling headdresses worn by the king, young prince
Simba, and most surprisingly the villain of the show, Shark. But undoubtedly, the
one who, for me, had the most glorious gown of all was the proprophess,… . But
even the wildlife costuming was easily identified, including the giraffe, birds,
warthog, hyenas and lion cubs especially. The make-up also mattered since it
enhanced the jungle-like feeling and flare of the show. So did the set design
whose backdrops were filled with all shades of green and mobile, thus making
scene switches easy and quick. It also meant that the mural-like moveable
backdrops were layered, adding the feeling of being deeper inside the jungle
and the vast landscape and kingdom that the Lion King controls.
Then there’s
the script which was edited and adapted and easily contested especially by
those who had seen the original full-scale production and felt the Banda’s version
had edited out too much of the original. Yet others were delighted with Banda’s
production and felt it deserved our praise not negative criticism. The critics
forget that the cast included children, aged from 10 to twelves olds, many of
whom are having the rare opportunity in kenya to study and participate in
beautiful productions like Lion King for credit.
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