Lion, Witch, Wardrobe

[furtech]

Yesterday I went to see Seattle Childrens Theater production of, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."



The SCT stages plays with professional actors and elaborate sets and costumes for children. I think they are *far* superior to the Minneapolis Children's theater (which IMO is self-indulgent, agenda-driven and just boring). The show was all right: the costumes were good but not great--they were of the "mostly people with some animal part" variety (a tail, ears, etc.); if this had been a play about human characters, I would have given it much higher marks (the costumes were very good, just not animal-enough for me). The werewolf in particular was very sad (just a limp, furry-con tail and nothing else). And this was definitely one of those shows where the songs were irritatingly superfluous and occurred at inappropriate moments (the damn beavers sing a song about eating fish!). The creative staff had clearly seen "The Lion King" (nobody does Michael Curry well except Michael Curry), "Into the Woods" and "Les Mis" (Lucy sings an Eponine-like knock-off of "On My Own" for no really good reason). Still, there were monsters and giants and swordfights, so the kids enjoyed it (therefore it was a success).


Later that evening (on our way to lunar-eclipse viewing over a fish dinner), Steve and Bev and I had a lively discussion about C.S. Lewis and his beliefs. I know he was very much a "Christian" writer, but I was boggled by the mix of Pagan and Christian elements in his books. If it had merely been "Christian animals" vs. "Pagan bad-guys (satyrs, witches, etc.)" I would have understood...but his books seem to respect/elevate fundemental Pagan themes ("Deep Magic" and the Stone Table) right along with ordinary Christian themes.

Per Bev and Steve, apparently C.S. Lewis -did- consider himself a fundy Christian, but in the British sense-- where the "Noble Pagan" isn't evil or "of the devil" (like it's considered by many US fundies). The Nobel Pagans could still ascend to heaven if they worshipped God without knowing they were doing do (big, confusing loophole here...) Still, Lewis's views (through his writing) are an interesting study in contradiction. Anyone else have any thoughts on his beliefs?

[EDIT: Why does the "thoughful" icon look like a farting Smiley-face?!?]

Comments

[brokkentwolf.livejournal.com]

On a non-sequitur note: We did get to see the eclipse here in FLA. We got out of the theatre (Brother Bear) just as the moon as about 1/3 into the eclipse. Then we watched it for the next hour or so. It seemed to last a lot longer than just half an hour. Yappy got some awesome pictures of the moon using a large aperture and long exposures. On the photos, the moon appears not so much eclipsed but going from silver-sheen to redish. It was very interesting though. I've never seen a total lunar eclipse, and consider myself very lucky to have had a chance to. :) Thank you for bringing it up. I would have missed it otherwise. :)

Sorry the play wasn't better.

As for the icons... Make your own. I have no such problems with mine because J.R. Bob only has one expression. It was the easiest mood icon set I've done. (and my favorite, as you can see from my posts)

Slack for all!

[berbalang.livejournal.com]

Ava, Sky, his lady J'wyl and I all went to see The Horror in the Theater: a Tryptych of Terror last night. Held at Open Circle theater, it was a trio of H.P. Lovecraft stories told on a very intimate set. And it was a kick! Genuinely frightening in moments, humourous, creepy, enjoyable. I think we're going to give Intiman's Johnathan Harker's Journal a shot, too. For some reason I am convinced Halloween isn't quite over, yet.

Dunno what to say about the icon except "eew!". Then again, the smiley-face thing always creeped me out, a little.

It was great seeing you again, mister, and Steve too. Even if we did have to endure the Howling Children of Dunwich before dinner, and the wrath of their mother, Yog Sothoth. :)

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Wow...Steve's friend, Dar', went to see that last night too...and we almost decided to see that at the last moment as well. Could have been an interesting night! I am a fan of one of the directors (for his puppet-making skills), Rob D'arc. What were the puppets like? Anything memorable or cool?

[berbalang.livejournal.com]

Hey, I wonder if he was the one that brought all those puppets out afterwards; do you know the guy (as in, what he looks like)? A fellow under six feet with grey-black hair and beard?

In any case, the puppets were fun. It was neat seeing them up close afterwards and seeing how they were constructed. I thought they were neat. Not Creature Shop-level by any means, but they did the job. I particularly liked some of the floating creatures used in From Beyond.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

That was probably him: I've never met the man, but I'm still a fan of his work. Apparently this year he held a bunch of workshops before the Solstice parade in Fremont-- all kinds of neat prop/puppet-making things. I may come up for them next year if he's still doing them!

[berbalang.livejournal.com]

Hey, if you do, just let me know if you're up for dinner sometime. We had a ball hangin' with you. :)

[okojosan.livejournal.com]

Beavers eat fish!?

As for C.S. Lewis, he did write the Screwtape Letters which were from the point of view of demons. I keep meaning to read those.

As for the icons, mea culpa... I meant to send them home to myself to finish them up this weekend and forgot. I still need to do those final changes on the suprised face. I'll try to finish that up Monday morning before they throw another assignment at me.

No farting shepherds!

[furtech.livejournal.com]

That's ok-- I've been out of town anyway. I figured I'd nag you when I got back (and I knew you were going to be busy with NaNuNaNu as well...)

[penh.livejournal.com]

"The Screwtape Letters" is very interesting indeed. It's a series of letters from a demon to his superior (if I recall correctly) about how he's trying to tempt/drive a man away from God, and what a rotten time he's having of it. I bet it was the main inspiration for Darin Morgan's "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me" episode of "Millennium," which has demons in a donut shop talking about their efforts to corrupt mankind. Mmmm, donuts...

I dig Lewis.

[starbiter.livejournal.com]

I haven't read much beyond the Chronicles of Narnia - no time of late.

The loophole you mention is pretty confusing. It bears further research. What are "Noble Pagans?"

I think the Narnia books are essential reading for anyone who wants to get a grip on Christianity. A real grip - beyond what the media and public opinions will tell you to think.

Re: I dig Lewis.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

According to reliable sources, a "noble Pagan" is someone who lives their lives in a way that follows Christian values, but has not yet heard the Word of God (or Jesus Christ).

The other comments on this have been very informative as well (thanks, Crocuta!).

Re: I dig Lewis.

[starbiter.livejournal.com]

Which sources? You have piqued my interest!

According to all the Christian teachings I've heard, if you follow Christian values, but haven't accepted Christ as your Savior (a thoroughly nebulous and faery-sounding topic to most people) then you are hosed. You're saved not by works, but by faith.

Anyway. This sounds pretty interesting, and I'm curious to learn more.

[crocuta.livejournal.com]

If I remember correctly, I read somewhere that CSLewis was an atheist and tried to set out to prove there was no God and in so doing his research, became quite sold on the idea of God...and thus later became Christian (probably after Tolkien chatted with him as they were all the "Inklings")

umm.. from http://www.cslewis.org/about/
In 1931 Lewis became a Christian: One evening in September, Lewis had a long talk on Christianity with J.R.R. Tolkien (a devout Roman Catholic) and Hugo Dyson. (The summary of that discussion is recounted for Arthur Greeves in They Stand Together.) That evening's discussion was important in bringing about the following day's event that Lewis recorded in Surprised by Joy: "When we [Warnie and Jack] set out [by motorcycle to the Whipsnade Zoo] I did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did."

I've not read as much of C.S. Lewis' stuff as I should :P
I've forgotten the rest of the stuff I remember reading about him..he seemed quite an interesting fellow tho.

Smileys always creeped me out..but it's not a fart, it's "brain gas" O.o

[kubo.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a nice play. :) The last time I read something by CS Lewis was probabaly back in middle school. I really ought to read more, heh. Anyway, the noble pagan concept sounds interesting. My guess is maybe it just gives more depth to the characters or story since concepts like magic tend to make things more interesting. *shrugs* I'm really not too sure..

[sk-1.livejournal.com]

I attended a Christian day school, where one of the books in our Literature course was "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe". My parents had the whole series, and I read them all on my own time.

Strangely, while C.S. Lewis was almost required reading for me, my school and parents highly discouraged reading J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" series because they deemed it too "demonic" or "paganistic" (despite how some say that Tolkien's works contain better parallels to Christianity than Lewis').

Go figure.

I've often heard

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

the toutings about C S and his embracing of Christianity, but I never got a hint of it from what of his I read. I haven't made the effort to read the Screwtape thing, or I might have a better perspective on it/him.

And while I also enjoyed the first couple books of his septiliogy (?) :D ...as I also enjoyed the Hobbit and the beginnings of the Middle Earth trilogy... I fell asleep during the Return of the King (book, though I expect I won't in the forthcoming movie).. and likewise also lost interest in the C S 7 series in the middle of the wordy 4th book.
I favor a lot of intriguing personalities and magic in those things, and at those junctures both series seemed to splinter too much for my tastes, I guess.. but then I was also in high school and had a lot of other things taking up every waking day as well.. so they had to exert a lot of pull to keep my interest, and I guess they didn't.... then.
My guess is that I might enjoy picking up where I left off now, but haven't put it into priority.

Btw.. THANKS again for all the postings about the Tezuka comics.. wow... finally went to the shop and picked up a few... 8> That'll keep me riveted for a good while!

*wags feathers* :>

[redstorm.livejournal.com]

I love the Chronicles of Narnia, they are very dear to me, sorta like my 'bible'. They struck a chord in me that nothing else has ever come close to. If there is a God, I have far less problems seeing him as a lion than a man... but i'm odd ;)

I was reading my friends Pagan magazine, and there was a segment on C.S. Lewis. Evidently he embraced paganistic things growing up, but then became a Christian later on. Of course, with the resurection etc in the Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, the Christians all jumped for joy and proclaimed him a Christian writer, which both is and isn't true at the same time.

You are right, things are less black and white over here. Everything muddles into some interesting shades of grey. Church over here is all about old people drinking tea after the service, vicars who make jokes, have wives and families, sing songs projected on big screens and ask you to get on with people. No damning, not lecturing. Jokes, biscuits and fetes with bouncy castles.
The fundamentalist thing scares me.
Our local Vicar dresses as a clown asd does kid's parties ;) He's also a huge sci-fi nut.

The Chronicles are both Christian and Pagan, a wonderful blend of the two which defined the bases for my spirituality at a very early age :o)