The Lion Inside

Roaring Success

The Lion Inside

by Sarah Punshon, after the story by Rachel Bright and Jim Field, music and lyrics by Eamonn O’Dwyer

Rose Original, Nicoll Entertainment, Curve, MAST Mayflower, and Unicorn Theatre co-production at the Rose Theatre, Kingston until 14^th April, then on tour until 29^th August

Review by Steve Mackrell

Another school break providing yet another challenge for parents to conjure up some Easter entertainment to distract their youngest from holiday boredom.  A helpful diversion could well be the stage adaptation at Kingston’s Rose Theatre of the popular best-selling children’s book The Lion Inside, written by Rachel Bright and Jim Field and first published in 2015.  It’s a simple story of a meek mouse and a strong lion and how even the smallest of us can overcome adversity and find our true voice.

Author Rachel Bright, who incidentally studied at Kingston University, has written some thirty books, selling well over five million copies with translations into some forty languages, including the Love Monster series and more recently, inspired by Beatrix Potter, some further tales of Peter Rabbit.  However, The Lion Inside, remains perhaps her most popular book to date and this stage version, created by Sarah Punshon, with original music and lyrics by Eamonn O’Dwyer, bursts into life with energy, music and colour.

For the uninitiated, The Lion Inside tells the tale of two contrasting characters, a quiet mouse yearning for respect and friendship, and a proud arrogant lion flaunting its pride and strength.  Our sympathy, of course, lies with the downtrodden mouse, who longs to be noticed but, being so small, is frequently overlooked.  His answer to the problem – to find the roar of a lion – but how?  The difficulty being – the only animal capable of teaching the mouse to roar is a lion itself.  And so begins the brave quest of the timid mouse to confront his fears by having the courage to ask the dangerous lion for help.  Clearly, some useful moral signposts here, including bravery, faith, friendship and an unshakeable belief in yourself. 

The story seemed to be very familiar to most of the children in the audience, helped by the fact that the production remained faithful to the original book as loved by its avid readers.  Similarly, given the strong colourful illustrations in the book, it was also important that the theatrical images recreated this vivid fantasy world of animals.  Director Sarah Punshon seems to have successfully captured the spirit of the book in its transfer to the stage with the result clearly resonating with the young audience.  As for the “grown-ups” – they were simply happy just to see the enthusiastic rapture on their children’s faces. 

My eight-year-old companion said the best bit “was when the lion was scared by the mouse” followed by the moment when “the zebra stood on the mouse’s tail.”  His younger four-year-old sister, clearly a more discerning critic said, “the best bit was the hippo when it did three poos out of its bottom.”

The production was held together by three actors – Caitlin Mallory as the Lion, James Keningale as the Mouse and Clarke Joseph-Edwards as the storyteller.  As well as playing the parts of their characters they were also nimble puppeteers.  The main puppet – the mouse – had various sizes depending on the scene involved, and sometimes the actor himself became the mouse – or indeed, the lion.  Other animals were represented just by random body parts held by the actors – an elephant being just ears and trunk, a zebra being just legs, a buffalo merely by horns and the lion with simply a face, front paws and tail. 

The show opened with a bright musical number Sounds of the Wilderness, evoking the noises of the savannah, but the number which really grabbed the audience’s attention was Caitlan Mallory as the lion, belting out an Elvis inspired rock number Lion O’clock.  In total contrast was James Keningale’s soft poignant solo A Long Time to Feel Small reflecting on the mouse’s sadness that “no-one ever sees me, nobody knows I’m here.”

As with many shows aimed at children, the most boisterous moments came with the scenes encouraging audience participation.  “Hands up those who sometimes feel scared” or invitations to roar loudly with your paws in the air, or to shout at frequent intervals encouragement such as “Yes, you can!”

Sixty minutes is probably about the right length of time to keep the children involved and encouraging them “to think like a winner.”  This is a great family show and perhaps comforting to think that perhaps “we all have a mouse and a lion inside.”  Why not go along and discover your very own lion inside, and roar along to this delightful fun-filled production?  It’s a gem of an Easter treat.

Steve Mackrell, March 2024

Photography by Pamela Raith