Spark Theatre to present two-person production of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"

The epic battle of good and evil in the land of Narnia will come to life in the simplest of forms this week: Through the magic of riveting storytelling and acting. Spark Theatre 4 Youth will present "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," in a special performance at 1 p.m. Saturday at Workshop Players in Amherst and at 7 p.m. Feb. 28 at at Cirigliano Studio Theater at Lorain County Community College. The sprawling childhood story is scaled down to a two-person adaptation dramatized by Le Clanche du Rand, based on the C.S. Lewis classic and performed by just two actors, said Spark's director, Truth Alice Taylor. "They are carrying the weight of the storytelling, using the magic circle," she said. "The two actors, Mike (Frye, who plays Peter Pevensie) and Lorna (Jane Patterson, Peter's sibling, Lucy) jump out of the circle to narrate and jump back into the circle to show with their physicality what is happening. They're both seasoned actors, they're beautiful people, they emote so well, and they make clear distinctions." The Elyria-based theater group is designed to perform traveling shows, so it is used to not working with a lot of scenery or props, said Rachael Endrizzi, producing artistic director. The company, now in its eighth season, performs three shows, or 45 productions, per school year, traveling to elementary and middle schools. "Our productions are designed to fit in a van, go out for an hour, get set up and then tear down and get back," she said. "The whole show lasts 37 minutes," Taylor said. "It is all gas, no brakes." In 2020, the company began partnering with LCCC during the pandemic when schools were shut down and college students couldn't perform, bringing the two groups together to produce videos of the company's performances for schoolchildren to watch. The partnership has continued, and Spark now offers summer camps at Stocker Center and some classes there as well as the ones at Workshop. "I personally am an alumnus of LCCC and we work hard to build community partnerships and that was a nice partnership that transpired during COVID," Endrizzi said. Endrizzi started the company with Claire Simpson in 2016, after running similar programs in Florida and Georgia and "realizing Lorain County didn't have a lot of access we were giving out in Florida." At the time, the Elyria native said, the city was building a new economic development plan and she thought it was a good fit and "a perfect way to give back to my community." Simpson has since moved out of state for another job and is no longer with Spark, and Endrizzi now commutes between Ohio and New Hampshire, where she lives and works full-time as the artistic director of another children's theatre. The group travels to schools as far as Summit, Stark, Erie, Huron and Medina counties, but most of this latest show's performances will be in Cuyahoga and Lorain counties. Some of their shows are skewed for younger audiences but this one is for grades fourth and older, said Taylor. "It's very actor-reliant, and there are not many props. A lot of it is imaginary. The playwright wanted a lot of imaginary things to be used — a snowball, a sword — and I like to tell stories with music and sound effects. We created as many sounds as we could to be used to enhance the story. I wanted to fill it up with as much wonder as possible," she said. "For Lorna, my actress, I know she and her mother used to read this whole series as bedtime stories and she is closely connected to these stories. I said 'Oh baby girl, I love that for you. I want to make sure you're having the best time of your life.'" Tickets for the Workshop Players performance are $10 and can be purchased at the door, online at workshopplayers.org or call (440) 634-0472. The theater is at 44820 Middle Ridge Road, Amherst. Tickets at LCCC are $9 for adults or $8 for students and children at the door. That theater is at 1005 N. Abbe Road.