Feature on: Disney’s THE LION KING
On Wednesday, we were invited by our Besties at Disney and ATG to attend a performance of the international blockbuster The Lion King. As a monumentally popular, and routinely sold-out show, we’re sure you can imagine Besties, we were honoured and excited to receive a special invitation to The Pride Lands.
What struck us as the lights went down in the Lyceum, the auditorium abuzz with excitement and anticipation, was the joy of seeing a 2000+ seater house full amidst this new age of theatrical uncertainty, a sight too often unseen nowadays. It’s no secret that The Lion King (now in its 22nd year at the London venue) has always been an international juggernaut. However, it is often described as a “tourist trap” by the jaded amongst us. What we must understand is that these shows are essential to ensure the security of our industry’s economic landscape. Truly for the first time since this industry’s reopening, its full house provided us with a sense of relief that we’re on our way back to recovering from this ordeal.
The jaded amongst us would also point out that a downfall of The Lion King would be the fact that it is comprised of an audience largely of children (a “kids show”) that they would disrupt or converse loudly throughout. The irony of this is in the majesty of the show’s opening, a number probably theatrically unrivalled, and so full of artistic ingenuity that it even gets the most steadfast adult audience member to let out a gasp of shock or an excited murmur to their next-door neighbour.
The puppetry and sets that were conceived by visionaries Julie Taymor and Richard Hudson back in the mid-nineties, more than hold up a quarter of a century later, and still inspire audiences’ night after night to suspend their disbelief and embrace the splendour of stage craft and its ability to transport you to a far-off place. All of which does make The Lion King a perfect kids show, as well as a perfect family experience.
Julie Taymor’s ground-breaking design and direction allows children to understand complex and symbolic stage devices without compromising any artistic integrity. Instead, what she does is open their minds in an accessible way as ensemble members become grass, plants, antelope etc. Stories are told through dance, voice, puppetry, shadow puppetry and other dialects proving that the majority of communication isn’t through spoken or comprehensible voice, but through body language and emotion. Children aren’t stupid, and what Julie Taymor did with The Lion King is take a “kids film” and translate it to stage without jeopardising her vision. She respected the minds of adults and children alike, as equals, and was able to tell a story that would speak through generations. We don’t think this became more apparent than on Wednesday night.
A family of five were sat in front of us, and during ‘Circle of Life’ the father’s mouth dropped as he saw a Giraffe walk on stage, then his wife turned to him and dropped her mouth when a cheetah entered, the children clinging excitedly onto their equally stunned parents and pointing down to the stalls as the procession made its way through the audience. We watched as a tsunami of awe and wonder engulfed the entirety of the Royal Circle and thought to ourselves: this is it. This is the moment. Here and now, we’re watching hundreds of people fall in love with theatre for the first time or fall back in love with it again. Within that moment, a future actor found their voice, a future dancer found their steps, a future lighting designer understood the language of light for the first time and realised they could finally say something.
We will also be the first to admit that we don’t believe The Lion King is without its flaws, but what it stands for, what it represents, what it does far outweighs that. This show, like many others, provides a gateway into the realm of theatre and its endless possibilities. It starts a love, a theatregoer, it encourages people to see more, branch out – become stagey, become a Bestie… and that is why we were so disheartened by the person in Row B of the stalls for spending the majority of the show on their phone. If you have the money to buy a £100 theatre ticket but would rather scroll through your phone, that’s your prerogative, however, it’s monumentally distracting and disrespectful to the performers on stage and the audience members around you who might not be so financially stable. Think, be respectful, be kind. Magic is being made in the theatre and who wants to be the person that inhibits that? But we digress.
Go, see theatre, take your siblings, whoever you can, and whilst you’re at it, consider The Lion King; because a show with the ability to keep enchantment going for over two decades, that’s something you don’t want to miss.
To book tickets for The Lion King in the West End, please click here.
