The Lion The | Witch | And The | | | | Wardrobe One-Act . Touring Version From the story My C.S. Lewis Dramatized y le Clanché du Rand >¢ The Dramatic Publishing CompanyTHE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE A Play in One Act For One Man and One Woman CHARACTERS . also plays Witch, Wolf, Statues also-plays Mr, Tumnus, Edmund, Mr. Beaver, Aslan ‘TIME: The present PLACE: Right here Maximum running time: 45 minutes/ 9x rr Maal VOICEOVER. It was 1939 in London, England, and children of all ages, from tiny tots to high school teenagers, were leaving their families for the relative safety of the countryside... SCENE: A bare stage. PETER and LUCY enter. PETER carries the box and LUCY carries the hat rack. LUCY sets down the hat rack to the right of the circle and hangs her coat on one of its hooks. After PETER has set down the box in the middle of the stage, he also takes off his coat and hangs it on the hat rack. Both sit on the box. LUCY is left of PETER. Both are intensely excited. OLDER PETER. Hello, my name is Peter. OLDER LUCY. And I'm Lucy. OLDER PETER. And we have an amazing story to tell you. This story is an adventure that happened to us when we were very young, as young as you are now... OLDER LUCY. There was a lion and a witch and a wardrobe! OLDER PETER. Not yet. OLDER LUCY (smiles and looks down). Sorry. OLDER PETER. The story began when we four children moved to this big house in the country and the first rainy day— OLDER LUCY (bursting out). Everybody died! OLDER PETER. Luuwuuucy! OLDER LUCY. What? OLDER PETER. That's the end of the story... OLDER LUCY. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. OLDER PETER. The story began when we four children moved to this big house in the country and the first rainy day— OLDER LUCY (jumping up and crossing DL). Aslan and the witch had this huge fight and... OLDER PETER. Lucy. OLDER LUCY. What? OLDER PETER. That's the middle of the story. OLDER LUCY. Well, that's the most exciting part and... OLDER PETER. It doesn’t matter. You have to tell it in order. One step at a time. LUCY. Ooh. Okay. Sorry. (A pause.)PETER. The story began when we four children moved to this big house in the country and the first rainy day— LUCY. We were crowned kings and queens of Narnia and I met Mr. Tumnus. The White Witch turned everyone into stone statues... OLDER PETER (under Lucy's outburst). We were exploring the house and we looked into this large empty room... (After Lucy's outburst.) Lucy, Lucy, Lucy! Waaaaait! What are you doing? OLDER LUCY. I’m telling them the story. OLDER PETER. I know, but you told the whole thing at once. They won't understand the story. Begin at the beginning. OLDER LUCY. It began with me! OLDER PETER. Don't forget the three of us! (He and LUCY laugh, I'm Peter and I'm the eldest and I was about fourteen at the time of this story... OLDER LUCY. You were so good and brave! OLDER PETER. And then there was our sister Susan and she was about twelve. OLDER LUCY. Nice! OLDER PETER. And then there was our brother Edmund, He was nine then... OLDER LUCY. Yecch! OLDER PETER. And you, Lucy, you were eight. OLDER LUCY. Well, don’t let's tell them, Let’s show them. OLDER PETER. What do you mean? Lucy, we can’t show them Narnia. That's impossible! Lucy, there was a snowstorm, there was a lion, stone statues, a battle, flying. You can't show those things. OLDER LUCY. Well, yes, we can! It isn’t very hard. Umm... (She crosses L, mimes making a snowbail and throws it at PETER.) OLDER PETER. Oooh, no, you don't! (He throws a snowball back at LUCY, who ducks.) OLDER LUCY. What's that? OLDER PETER. Snowballs! OLDER LUCY. And what's that? (She mimes pulling out a sword. PETER mimes pulling out a sword.) OLDER PETER. Sword fight! (They sword fight briefly, then PETER dies.) You mean snowballs like the snowstorm in Narnia, and the sword fight like the battle against the White Witch? So? (LUCY groans.) Ooh, we could show! OLDER LUCY and PETER Magic circle! (Both mime drawing the magic circle. Each makes @ half-circle, from UC to DC. They make strange ritual noises.)OLDER LUCY. So ~ when we show things, we'll be inside the circle and when we tell things, we'll be outside the circle. OLDER PETER, Show. Tell. And we can use the box. (He takes their coats off the hat rack and places the box up, slightly to the left of the center of the circle.) OLDER LUCY. Oooh, great! And we can use the hat rack, too. OLDER PETER (narrating right of the circle). Okay. The story began when we four children... (FOUR CHILDREN appear.) ... moved to this big house in the country. (LUCY begins to mime moving along an imaginary wall from right to left.) .. and the first rainy day we were exploring the house... (ALL move downstage.) LUCY. It's so dark in here, SUSAN. These hallways go on forever. EDMUND and LUCY. Yes. PETER. Lucy, wait. LUCY. What? PETER. Here's a door. LUCY. Let’s go in. (PETER mimes opening the door. The CHILDREN go in.) SUSAN. Wow, what a huge room! PETER. High ceilings! EDMUND. Hello! (Echo.) SUSAN, And it’s completely empty - except for this wardrobe! (She mimes its volume.) LUCY. I wonder what's inside! PETER. Eh, just a bunch of old coats. EDMUND. Who wants to look in a closet? SUSAN. I’m going to look in the next room. OLDER PETER: And we left Lucy alone in the room and she opened the door of the wardrobe and she pushed aside the coats and stepped into the wardrobe and closed the door behind her. LUCY (standing still). It’s dark in here. Smells like mothballs! OLDER PETER (narrating as LUCY continues to mime.) And she reached for the back of the wardrobe, but it wasn’t there. And she reached further and further. (LUCY mimes pushing the coats aside.) And far away, she saw a light. LUCY (after initial fear at the new landscape). Snow! Trees! What happened to all the coats? (She turns U. LUCY turns and sees a lamppost.) A lamppost! A lamppost in the middle of a forest? What is this place? Oh, I'm so cold, so cold.(She reacts to the cold of the Witch's world. MR. TUMNUS enters UR, humming. LUCY freezes with fear. They see each other and scream. LUCY runs UR. MR. TUMNUS hides behind the lamppost, and then circles LUCY as she counters DR.) MR. TUMNUS. Are you an elf? LUCY. No. MR. TUMNUS. Are you a water sprite? LUCY. No. MR. TUMNUS. Are you a w-w-w-w-witch? LUCY. No. No. No. MR. TUMNUS. What are you? LUCY. I'ma girl. My name's Lucy. MR. TUMNUS. You're human? LUCY. Yes. MR. TUMNUS. Oooh. My name's Mr. Tumnus. (He and LUCY shake hands.) But are you really a human? LUCY. Of course. I'm a girl. (She sits on her haunches,) What strange legs you've got - like goat's legs with black fur all over them. MR. TUMNUS. Well, of course. I’m a faun. LUCY. A faun? You don’t look like a baby deer. MR. TUMNUS. Not that kind of faun! But whatever happened to your hooves? And they've straightened your legs! (He is upset.) Oooh, I'm so sorry. LUCY. No, no. These are girl legs. Are your horns real? MR. TUMNUS. Yes, I've just polished them. (Each strokes an imaginary horn on his head.) Tell me, how did you get into Narnia? LUCY. Into what? MR. TUMNUS. Narnia. LUCY. This is Narnia? MR. TUMNUS. Yes. How did you get here? LUCY. Through the wardrobe. MR. TUMNUS. Ooh, I'm not very good at geography. | don’t know the country of War Drobe. Is it far? LUCY. No. It's near the lamppost.MR. TUMNUS (laughing). | like you. Humans are funny. Tell me, would you like to come to my cave for a lovely cup of hot chocolate and cookies and tea? LUCY. Oh, I'd love to, But you will bring me back to the lamppost afterwards, won't you? MR. TUMNUS. Of course. LUCY. Oh, good! (She takes MR. TUMNUS'’S right arm, circles L and steps out of the circle. She narrates DL.) So Mr. Tumnus took me to his nice warm cave for some hot chocolate and cookies and tea. (She steps back inside the circle L of MR. TUMNUS. Bath mime drinking.) That’s the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted, Mr. Tumnus. (She hands him the cup and saucer.) MR. TUMNUS. Why... thank you, Lucy. I'll get you some more. LUCY. What a nice cave you've got. (She looks to the R of MR. TUMNUS)) Is that a picture of your mommy? MR. TUMNUS. Yes. LUCY. She’s beautiful! I see where you got your horns from. (She turns UR, her back to the audience.) And what pretty dishes you've got. (She examines a dish.) MR. TUMNUS (to AUDIENCE). Should I or shouldn't I tell the White Witch about her? Should I or shouldn't I? LUCY. What? (She turns DR of MR. TUMNUS.) MR. TUMNUS. Oh, nothing, nothing. LUCY. It’s getting late and the others will be worried. Will you take me back to the lamppost, please? MR. TUMNUS. Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay here for a little? Oh... no, No, no. I'll show you the way. Come, follow me. It’s just around the corner. (He and LUCY duck out of the cave and part at the lamppost.) LUCY. Good-bye, Mr. Tumnus. Where did he go? (She turns UL as PETER places the lamppost outside the circle.) Now, let's see... | go past the trees, past the coats, into the wardrobe, through the door, and back into the room. It works backwards, too! Oh, I can’t wait to tell someone. (She freezes in position UC) OLDER PETER. As it turned out, the first person that Lucy could tell was our brother Edmund, who came by on his way to the kitchen for another snack. (EDMUND enters.) LUCY. Oh, Edmund, Edmund, wait till | tell you! Wait till | tell you! EDMUND. After my snack. (He begins to exit L.) LUCY (grabbing Edmund’s arm). No, wait, wait, wait. You'll never guess what happened to me! I went through the wardrobe to a place called Narnia and I met a Mr. Tumnus and he gave me some hot chocolate and cookies and tea and then he took me back to the lamppost and here I am!EDMUND. Lucy, we only left you one minute ago. LUCY. One minute! But that's impossible. I've been in Narnia for hours. EDMUND. That's the stupidest story I've ever heard. Let's eat. LUCY. No, wait, it’s true! It's true! You'll see when I take you there. It's the most incredible place. It’s always winter there and there's snow— EDMUND. Ooh, there’s snow in the wardrobe. Mmmm... LUCY. Oh, no, there's snow on the trees. And right in the middle of the forest there’s this lamppost. EDMUND. Oh, there's a lamppost in the middle of the forest... LUCY. Then I saw Mr. Tumnus who's halfa man and half a goat— EDMUND. Oh, yeah, Mr. Tumnus, who's half a man and half a goat. | know him ~ he works at the candy store. I know his wife Mabel, too. Mabel’s half a woman and halfa turtle. LUCY. No, no, no! Wait, it’s true! I know it sounds like magic, but it’s real. EDMUND. Oh, sure it’s real, Lucy. It’s real stupid. You're crazy and that is the dumbest lie I have ever heard. Let's eat. LUCY (grabbing EDMUND as he walks away from her). Why are you so mean to me? You're my brother. EDMUND. Ah, come on, Lucy, gimme a break! I don’t wanna hear anymore of it. Girls! (LUCY cries.) OLDER LUCY (narrating). I wasn't sure anymore that it really had happened, so the next rainy day I went right back to the wardrobe to see if Narnia was really there. OLDER PETER (narrating). And Edmund saw a chance to tease Lucy even more, and so this time Edmund followed Lucy to the wardrobe. EDMUND. Ooh, Lucy, I know you're in the wardrobe. Are you having a good time in Narrrnia? I think I'll visit Narrrnia, too. Oh, look, a lotta coats! Biilig surprise! (He mimes going through the wardrobe.) Looks like a plain old wardrobe to me, Lucy, with a back. Where's the back? Huh, huh, hub. Is this a joke? Huh, huh, Snow. Trees. A lamppost! (Asleigh forms and riding the sleigh is the WITCH.) WITCH (she emits a long, maniacal laugh). Winter, winter, always winter. Faster, you stupid reindeer or I'll beat you to death. Faster! (She sees EDMUND and stops the sleigh DR.) Whoa! Stop! What have we here? (She puts down the reins.) Are you a dwarf? EDMUND. No.WITCH. Are you a centaur? EDMUND. No. WITCH (crossing left of EDMUND as he inches R). Well, well, well, are you a baby giant? EDMUND. I'm not a baby anything. WITCH. Grrrssss! Well, what are you then? EDMUND. I'ma boy. WITCH. A human? A huuuman son? EDMUND. Yes. Who are you? WITCH. Aaahgrrrsss! You haven't been around every long, have you? I am the queen. This is my queendom. Welcome to Narnia. EDMUND. Aah, thanks. Sure is cold here. WITCH. Aah, cold? Come and sit in my sleigh and I will wrap my furs around you to keep you warm, (She wraps furs around him.) Ha-ha! Feeling better, human son? EDMUND. Yes, thanks. A lot better. WITCH (touching EDMUND'S hair). What lovely fur you have! (She crosses left of EDMUND.) Hungry? EDMUND. Yeah! WITCH. Food is what you need. (She conjures.) Turkish Delight! EDMUND. How did you do that? WITCH. Never mind. There. Eat. EDMUND. It looks like candy. WITCH. It’s better than candy. Eat. Eat. EDMUND (eating). Mmmmm, it's like chocolate ice cream with hot fudge sauce. Pizza, Sausages. Mmm, mmm. And hot buttered popcorn. WITCH. You're a growing boy. Eat. Eat. EDMUND. Mmm. Strawberry shortcake with marshmallow fluff and whipped cream and peanuts. French fries. Can Il have some more? WITCH. On one teensy weensy little condition. EDMUND. What? What? WITCH (going to the right of EDMUND). Do you have any brothers or sisters? EDMUND. Yes, yes. One brother. Two sisters. WITCH. There are four of you! The prophecy! EDMUND. Yeah. Could I have some more, please?WITCH (going to the left of EDMUND). | don't have anymore. There isn’t a scrap left anywhere, But I will give you all the Turkish Delight you want if you will bring your brother and sisters to my castle. EDMUND. Oooh, well... I don’t know. WITCH (up behind EDMUND again). I will make you a prince and you will rule over your brother and sisters. They'll have to do anything you tell them to, EDMUND. They'd have to do whatever I said? Peter, Susan, and Lucy? WITCH. Yes. No Turkish Delight for them. EMUND. Goood! Okay. I'll bring them. I promise. WITCH. Good. Scoot. (She pushes EDMUND off the sleigh.) Till then, little human boy. At my castle. (She takes off) EDMUND (miming his journey back). Lamppost, snow, trees, branches, coats, wardrobe, door. (LUCY enters.) Lucy, Lucy, Lucy, I just checked out the wardrobe, too, and you know what I found? LUCY. What? What? EDMUND. There's no such place as Narnia. It’s a stupid lie and you made the whole thing up. I’m going to tell Peter and Susan. OLDER PETER. Susan and I believed Edmund. And for a whole week none of us mentioned Narnia. OLDER PETER. Until the next rainy day when the four of us were playing hide and seek... OLDER PETER. And without thinking, all four of us hid inside the wardrobe. . She giggles. LUCY. Oh, Peter, I'm back! PETER (amazed). Oh, Lucy, is this... SUSAN. Yes, this must be Narnia. LUCY. Yes. (She makes an imaginary snowball) PETER. I'm so sorry I believed Edmund and not you. SUSAN. Look, it’s a real place! LUCY (putting the snowball down PETER'S neck). Yes, itis. PETER. Brrr... it’s freezing here. Isn’t there any place we can go to get warm? LUCY. We could go to Mr. Tumnus’s cave. He gave me some hot chocolate and cookies and tea the last time I was here. Okay, Edmund? EDMUND. Oh, yeah, sure. I think the lamppost is just over there and then the cave is alittle bit further... (He claps his hand over his mouth.) LUCY. How did you know that, Edmund?PETER. You've been here before... LUCY. And you told Peter and Susan that I was lying, SUSAN. Oh, Edmund, how could you? LUCY. Oh, you horrible, horrible, horrible little beast! (She cries and turns away L.) EDMUND (aside). I'll show them. I'll go to the White Queen and be made a prince and rule over them and get all the Turkish Delight I want. Creeps! OLDER LUCY. So I led the other three through the snow to Mr. Tumnus's cave. OLDER PETER (narrating). It wasn't very far, but instead of a nice warm cave, what we found was... LUCY. Oh, no, who could have done such a thing? They've wrecked his cave. (She kneels.) And broken alll his pretty little dishes and they've spilled hot chocolate all over the floor. SUSAN. What was this? LUCY. It was a picture of his mom. (She stands.) Peter, what could have happened to. Mr. Tumnus? (They freeze.) OLDER PETER (narrating). While we were wondering, a robin flew into the cave and the robin flew around and around and then it landed on Lucy's finger. The robin looked her right in the eye as if to say, “follow me,” and so we did. (LUCY mimes running through the forest.) We followed the robin through the forest, across an icy frozen lake... (LUCY mimes slipping on ice.) And then the robin flew into a hole in the middle of a dam. We all crawled in and found ourselves in a warm little house made of sticks. LUCY. I wonder who lives here? (MR. and MRS. BEAVER enter.) Hello. (The BEAVERS are scared, thump their feet and tremble.) Don’t be scared, I'm Lucy, and this is my sister Susan, and my brothers Edmund and Peter. MR. BEAVER. Humans! Oh, I thought you were... I'm Mr. Beaver. MRS. BEAVER. And I'm Mrs. Beaver. How do you chew? LUCY. How do you chew. MR. BEAVER. Care for some log? SUSAN and LUCY. Thank you very much MRS. BEAVER. Company! Let me whip up some bark salad. LUCY. Mr. Beaver. (She accidentally steps on his tail.) MR. BEAVER. Ah, be careful - don't step on the old tail. LUCY. Sorry. We're worried about Mr. Tumnus. MR. BEAVER. Tumnus? The spy? PETER. What do you mean?10 MRS. BEAVER. Everybody knows he works for the White Witch. EDMUND. Do you know where he is? MR. BEAVER Say - you're not eating your log. I's good red maple. Gnawed it myself. SUSAN. That's all right. PETER. We already ate. SUSAN. Who's the White Witch? MRS. BEAVER (looks around fearfully). She hunts humans. His job was to turn you over to her. LUCY. He wouldn't have done that. MR. BEAVER. Nope ~ he didn't, did he? MRS. BEAVER. Guess he liked you too much. MR. BEAVER. She probably turned him to stone, SUSAN. Stone! MR. BEAVER. Yep! All traitors belong to the White Witch. She turns all her enemies to stone. Like this... Pritiing! LUCY. Oh, it’s my fault. I must go and save Mr. Tumnus. MR. BEAVER. Oh, no, no, no. Nobody can stand up against the White Witch. MRS. BEAVER. But there is an old prophecy which says, “When four human children shall come to Narnia and be crowned Kings and Queens, then the White Witch's spell will be broken.” Of course with help from Aslan. LUCY. Aslan!! (She cries out and laughs.) MR. BEAVER. What's the matter? Are you alll right? LUCY. Oh yes, I feel wonderful. When you said Aslan, I felt as if it were going to be Christmas forever. MRS. BEAVER Yes, Aslan makes everybody feel like that. SUSAN. What is Aslan? PETER. Who is Aslan? i MR. BEAVER. You don’t know? Amazing! Aslan is the Great Lion. He's as big as a refrigerator... or a battleship. And he’s waiting for you at the Stone Table. Come, human children, follow me. I'll show you the way. (LUCY accidentally steps on his tail again.) Oops, don’t step on my tail. LUCY. Sorry. Come on, Peter, Susan, Edmund, come on. EDMUND. Okay, just a minute, I've got to tie my shoe. Heh-heh,i OLDER PETER or LUCY. But instead of tying his shoe, Edmund slipped out the back door of the dam while the rest of us were talking, and started crossing the frozen river to the White Witch's castle. EDMUND. I'll show you, Miss Lucy. You call me a horrible little beast. Ooh, it’s cold. 1 can’t wait to get my hands on that Turkish Delight. That's the best thing I've ever tasted. a OLDER PETER or LUCY (narrating). Finally, Edmund came to the White Witch's castle. (With her arms, palms together, she mimes a door that squeaks as it swings ‘open and shut when EDMUND pushes it and then hammers on it to get out. She narrates again.) In the dim light of the courtyard, Edmund could make out hundreds of strange shapes. But there wasn’t a single sound. Not a single movement. (She circles US and kneels.) EDMUND (imimes-fee ues). Oh, no, a bear! A fat dwarf! And a dragon! Ooh, stone! Tie White Witch ined them all to stone like Mr. Beaver said! What's this, stone statue? Halfa man and halfa goat! Could that be Mr. Tu... I'm going home! WOLF (jumps). Grrr. EDMUND. What's that thing with the red eyes? A wolf - a white wolf! (The WOLF pursues EDMUND around the circle to DR, right of EDMUND who is on his knees.) Don't hurt me! Don’t eat me! I'll do anything you want! Please! Please! (The WITCH enters and laughs maniacaily,) Y-y-your M-m-majesty. WITCH, How dare you come alone! Didn't | tell you to bring the others with you? EDMUND. Please, Your Majesty, I did the best I could. They're not far from here. (The WITCH conjures up Turkish Delight.) WITCH. Turkish Delight! (She tempts EDMUND.) EDMUND. Could I have some? (He grabs for the Turkish Delight but the WITCH holds him back with a magic gesture. He keeps reaching for it but can’t get past an invisible wall.) WITCH. As soon as you tell me where the others are! EDMUND. Well, they were talking about going to a Stone Table to meet Aslan... WITCH. What! Aslan! Aslan! (She tosses the Turkish Delight away and backs up two steps.) If find out that you're lying to me, little boy... EDMUND (walking on his knees, facing the WITCH with his back to the audience). No, Your Majesty, it’s the truth. Couldn’t I have some Turkish Delight, please? WITCH. You'll never eat anything again as long as you live. (She gives EDMUND a hard stage slap to the face.) Which probably won't be that long either. (She slaps EDMUND again.) | must stop them before they get to Aslan! Make ready our sleigh. And harness our little human friend here. He'll pull it. No need for reindeer today,12 EDMUND. I'm getting out of here. (He starts off L. The WITCH laughs, throws an imaginary hook, reels him in, mimes harnessing him, then whips him. The sleigh forms.) WITCH. Go, you miserable human brat! Faster! Faster! (They begin the circle to L and UC then to EDMUND DC.) EDMUND. Gimme a break. I’m going as fast as I can. WITCH. Faster. Faster. EDMUND (miming). My feet are getting stuck in the mud. I can’t go any further. The snow is melting, (He struggles.) The snow is all melted. (He falls to the ground.) WITCH. That's just not good enough. (She whips him with her imaginary whip.) Now Tl never get to the Stone Table and stop that filthy lion from meeting the four human brats. What's happening? It's already turning summer. (She picks a leaf up.) The leaves are green, the birds are singing, the sun is shining... It’s disgusting! The prophecy! I'm losing my kingdom. (She crosses DR of EDMUND.) Aaaah, I'l kill you and then the prophecy will never be fulfilled. Narnia is mine. (She mimes pulling a sword and swinging it back to chop off EDMUND'S head.) OLDER PETER. Not yet, Lucy. (The WITCH stops short of EDMUND'S throat, in a frozen tableau.) We have to leave Edmund there for the moment. It doesn't look too good for him, does it? Meanwhile, we three children were walking through the snow as fast as we could to meet Aslan at the Stone Table. Things were beginning to change (We hear bells. t's FATHER CHRISTMAS, He gives PETER a shield and a sword, He gives SUSAN a bow and quiver. He gives LUCY a little glass bottle ~ that looks like a diamond - and a dagger.) PETER (pointing to the back of the auditorium). On to the Stone Table, everyone! (Ahillis created.) LUCY. Oh, Peter, that PETER. Well, we've got to get right to the top, Lucy. That's where the Stone Table is. is so steep. SUSAN. Peter, wait! What if Aslan is a wild lion instead of a tame lion? PETER (as he and LUCY and SUSAN resume walking, then climbing the hill). | don't know, Susan. We'll just have to see. LUCY. It's too steep. I can’t go on. I'm tired. PETER. Keep climbing, Lucy. Don’t give up! Whoa! LUCY. What? SUSAN. Don't look down or you'll get scared. LUCY (looking down). Oooooooh, help! (She loses her right hand grip. PETER grabs her hand.)13 PETER Here, grab my hand. (They climb further.) SUSAN. Look there's the top. PETER (lets go of LUCY'S hand as he points), We're almost there! LUCY (falling). Aaaaooohhh! (PETER grabs her hand again.) Don't do that again. PETER (as they mime their last three heaves to the top). One more ledge and we're up to the top. (They pant.) Look! PETER, SUSAN, and LUCY. The Stone Table! SUSAN. What strange carvings! It’s such an old table. (Their gaze is pulled up simultaneously in the silence. They slowly turn to the right) PETER, SUSAN, and LUCY. Aslan! OLDER LUCY (narrating). And there was the Great Lion himself. We tried to look at Aslan’s face but all we could see was that golden mane and those huge eyes. We trembled as we looked at him. Aslan was beautiful and scary at the same time. ASLAN (roaring). Welcome, Peter, human son. Welcome, Susan, welcome, Lucy, human daughters. But where is the fourth human son? Edmund, where is he? LUCY. He's gone to join with the White Witch, Aslan, He's not completely bad. It was partly my fault for being so angry with him, SUSAN. Is there anything we can do to save him? (Slowly and gently, ASLAN places his left paw on LUCY’S head to reassure her.) ASLAN. All shall be done but it may be harder than you think. LUCY. Thank you, Aslan. ASLAN. Come, human children, we must go to save Edmund, Let us go - quickly! 2(LUCY (crossing DC and narrating). And with Aslan leading the way, we all ran to rescue Edmund. ) (We transition back to the wood, where the WITCH is about to behead EDMUND.) (When we got to Edmund in the middle of the forest, this is what we saw. J? (They resume the tableau with the WITCH about to behead EDMUND, who suddenly sees ASLAN at R.) EDMUND. Look over there! WITCH. Aslan! (As she looks up, EDMUND escapes.) What? You can't escape. I'll find you. (ASLAN roars. She looks R and addresses ASLAN.) You owe me that boy's life, ‘Aslan, According to the Law of Deep Magic, all traitors belong to me, so Edmund is my kill.14 ASLAN. I know the law says all traitors are yours but the law allows another way, too, which is for someone to change places with that traitor and die for him. Would you agree to a trade like that? WITCH. Are you trying to trick me, Aslan? Huh? (She circles up to the L of ASLAN.) Whom do you want to get rid of? Whom do you have in mind to die in Edmund’s place? ASLAN. Me. WITCH. You? You want to die for Edmund? You must be joking, The Great Lion wants to die for that miserable human brat? What's the catch? ASLAN. No catch. WITCH. Agreed, agreed, agreed! Monsters! Ogres! Dwarfs! Tie up that stupid little pussy cat! (ASLAN mimes the actions the WITCH describes and ends up lying on his back on the Stone Table.) Strap him to the table! (She circles up.) Cut off his mane! Poke out his eyes! Cut off his feet! And | will cut his throat. (She mimes this.) And now I'll kill Edmund. LUCY. (From behind the bushes, Susan and I saw everything.)? (She steps into the circle.) Oh, Susan, look at all the blood. Aslan, please come back. Come back please, Aslan. I need you. (She touches ASLAN'S paw and it drops away from his chest) He's dead! (LUCY and SUSAN turn away and kneel as they weep.) I'm so cold. (ASLAN resurrects behind LUCY. He puts his paw on her shoulder and she pats it.) Oh, Susan, that’s very sweet of you, but it’s no use. I just want to die. (She takes ASLAN'S paw.) Oh, Susan. (She sees the paw.) What happened to your hand, Susan? It's all furry. Oh, Aslan, you're alive! Oh, Aslan, oh, Aslan! (She hugs ASLAN and dances around with him.) You're real, you're real, you're real... But how did you come back to life? ASLAN (roars). I came back to life because there's a Deeper Deep Magic than that of the Witch that says that when an innocent victim dies for a traitor, death works backwards. But come, Susan and Lucy, you must ride on my back. We will fly to the castle of the White Witch and free everyone she has turned to stone. Away we go! LUCY. Ooh, Aslan, Aslan, oooh. Look how small the trees are and the rivers look like shiny ribbons. I can touch the clouds. There's the White Witch's castle. Down we go into the courtyard. (SUSAN and LUCY dismount.) ASLAN. | will breathe on all of you stone statues and bring you back to life. (He (breathes on a BIRD and she comes back to life.) {/ BIRD. Ooh, Im alive! I'm alive! Oh, thank you, thank you, Aslan! \\_ (ASLAN breathes on a DWARF, who yawns as he comes back to life.) DWARF, What a long sleep I’ve had! I'm hungry. 2(LUCY. Peter, let me be Aslan.)? PETER. Okay, Lucy.(ASLAN breathes on MR. TUMNUS, who comes alive and speaks.) MR. TUMNUS. Oooh, I can move again! I’m alive! LUCY. Mr. Tumnus! MR. TUMNUS. Lucy! What's happening? LUCY. Aslan is back. He's freed all the stone statues and now we're going to fight with him against the White Witch's army. MR. TUMNUS. Let’s go get the w-w-w-w-w... LUCY and MR. TUMNUS. Witch! OLDER PETER (narrating excitedly at a fast pace; most likely a voiceover). And we ran down the hill and there was already a terrific battle in progress. Ogres were fighting giants! LUCY (narrating). Giants were fighting dragons! OLDER PETER (narrating). We children were fighting dwarves and there was blood everywhere. But in spite of all our bravery, the White Witch was still winning the battle. She had her magic wand and was turning everybody into stone... until good old Edmund had a different idea. Instead of attacking the White Witch with a sword... (EDMUND breaks the WHITE WITCH'S wand.)? WITCH. You broke my magic wand, you wretched little creep! I'l kill you for that! (She strangles EDMUND and he falls to the ground.) There, dead! Edmund is dead. Aslan is dead... and Narnia belongs to me! ASLAN (roars). Witch! WITCH. Aslan! (She turns and sees ASLAN UR. There is a terrific magical battle between them, mimed in slow motion, using spells and unseen forces until ASLAN ‘finally kills the WITCH. ASLAN. The White Witch is dead! (He roars.) LUCY (narrating). Don't worry about Edmund. We brought him back to life with some magic drops we got from Father Christmas. PETER. We owe our thanks to Edmund. By breaking the White Witch's wand, he saved the day. SUSAN. Otherwise, we would have lost the battle. Transition to Throne Room OLDER LUCY (narrating). And the next day, Aslan crowned all four of us kings and queens of Narnia.. And the four of us ruled over Narnia... For thirty years... Until we were as old as our parents... (The CHILDREN physically transform in age.)16 OLDER LUCY. And then one day as-King-Peter-and-we were walking through the forest, we came upon a strange sight. (PETER takes LUCY'S hand in a formal way and they circle UR to look at the lamppost.) PETER (grown up). Why look, Queen Lucy, a lamppost! LUCY. It looks like a tree of iron with a lamp on top. SUSAN. What a strange thing to find in the middle of a forest! (She crosses to the lamppost.) By Aslan, it reminds me of something from long ago... LUCY. Me, too. (She crosses to her left and then U as she begins the journey back through the wardrobe.) EDMUND. How thickly the trees grow here. It seems oddly familiar. (They go back through the wardrobe } PETER. These branches are so thick and soft. like cloth. These branches aré (They mime the old gesture of pushing the coats aside.) SUSAN. ... coats! LUCY. Look, there's a door! We've come back through the wardrobe. SUSAN: We're home! PETER. Lucy, look at you! You're young again!( Where’s my beard?)? EDMUND. We're all kids again. Lucy, look at my watch! We've only been gone one minute! OLDER LUCY (come in fast with this line). And that's the end of the story. We were back in the house again. OLDER PETER. It was raining outside. OLDER LUCY. And we were just normal kids once more. OLDER PETER. Yep. Time to close up the circle. (LUCY is very upset and follows PETER as he takes up the circle from UC to DC. He mimes pulling up the imaginary tape that defined the circle, squashing it into a smaller and smaller ball and finally blowing it into the air high above the auditorium. LUCY follows its course and begins to cry.) What's wrong, Lucy? OLDER LUCY, I want to go back. I want to go back. OLDER PETER. We can’t go back, Lucy. (He takes LUCY’S hand.) OLDER LUCY. Why not? OLDER PETER. We're too big now. You remember what Aslan said? He said that we've had our turn. It’s time for other children to go to Narnia now. Our job is to remember as best we can. OLDER LUCY. And tell the story. OLDER PETER. And never forget.17 OLDER LUCY. And never forget. OLDER PETER. Right. I'll get the box if you'll dress the hat rack. (He crosses to the box and puts their coats, the hat, and the mask into it. LUCY remains in place, full of the old excitement.) OLDER LUCY. I remember there was... a forest between the worlds and there were these two big pools and you could dive into them and go to other worlds. It was a thousand years later, in Narnia time... OLDER PETER. Lucy, Lucy... the hat rack, could you get it? OLDER LUCY. And Prince Caspian became the rightful king of Narnia, OLDER PETER. Lucy, the hat rack! OLDER LUCY. There was a tiny mouse, Reepicheep. He and I went on a ship called the Dawntreader. (PETER puts the hat rack under LUCY'S arm and leads her off by the other hand while she is still talking. He carries the box.) We sailed away to the end of the world and we saw the monopods and the marsh-wiggles. OLDER PETER, Good-bye, everyone! VOICEOVER. Yes, of course you'll get back to Narnia again someday. Once a King in Narnia, always a King in Narnia. But don’t go trying to use the same route twice. Indeed, don’t try to get there at all. It'll happen when you're not looking for it. And that is the very end of the adventure of the wardrobe. But only the beginning of the adventures in Narnia, ‘THE END