The Lion King, Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham, 13 July, 2023. In Birmingham until 16 September, 2023.

5*****: David Gray & Paul Gray

In Dublin Bord Gais Energy Theatre from 28th September to 11th November 2023, then on tour through the UK and Ireland, dates and venues to be announced.

Although it has been on the stage now for 26 years and is based on an even older film, The Lion King, with its rich blend of cultural influences and languages, and its story of a battle against tyranny, is very much a musical for our times. The show is a mixing bowl in so many ways and this is one of the keys to its success and longevity.

It is an ensemble show in that it has a cast of many strong characters, all of which demand consummate professionalism and excellence from the players. But it also perfectly balances and integrates and all the elements of storytelling. No single one stands out above the rest. So, while it is a full of expressive music and eloquent lyrics, dramatic scenes and spectacular stage effects, all of these work together to serve the fable. Which is, at the end of the day, a very simple but very resonant one.

The term total theatre is often used, but less often realised. The Lion King is a complete expressions of this idea. Its bringing together of music, drama and spectacle makes it something akin to a modern Masque.

It explodes upon us. A lone figure, Rafiki, in a powerhouse performance from Nosipho Nkonqa, stands alone on the stage and sings. Her declamation is a summoning, demanding that we leave our world and come to the world of the drama. Then, over pounding rhythms and a wall of choral sound the stage fills with fantastical representations of the animals of the African plane, including a full-size elephant. The effect is breath-taking, and one wonders how anything that follows cannot but be an anti-climax.

Remarkably, the show builds from this point. Its brilliance is its ability to make spectacle from even the smallest effect. Tiny shadow puppet representations of tiny scurrying creatures are utterly beguiling. Every character is fully realised as a phycological entity, but also in its physicality, through movement and through the use of intricate costume and puppetry.

Magical is a word that springs to mind at every turn. The effects, small and large are prestidigitatious and the story telling is spellbinding. It would be churlish to single out any cast members for praise. They are all fantabulous. Special mention, however, must be made of percussionists, Atanas Dochev and Jack McCarthey who, positioned antiphonally in boxes on either side of the theatre, created their own aural and visual spectacle.

Disney stage musical are always spectacular in their own way, and this can be a problem. Spectacle often overshadows the human drama. Not so here. This is a show where the spectacle is about the wonder of the world we live in and therein lies its big beating human heart.

Cast

Rafiki – Nosipho Nkonqa

Musafa – Jean-Luc Guizonne

Sarabi – Tanisha-Mae Brown

Zazu – Matthew Forbes

Scar – Richard Hurst

Young Simba – Daniel Adesina, Johan Hamilton, Miles Jabbie, Remirez Mais, Ro’jjae Simpson, Vidar Soluade

Young Nala – Ellie Thandie Charlton, Isabella Francis, Gabrielle McDonald, Omorose, Nicklin, Adreanna Steventon-Todd, Anayah Thomas

Shenzi – Candida Momosa

Banzai – Michael Jeremiah

Timon – Alan McHale

Pumbaa – Carl Sanderson

Simba – Kyle Richardson

Nala – Janique Charles