Jacksonville High Stages Narnia Classic, Students Lead Community Weekend

Jacksonville High School’s theater department capped a busy local arts weekend with a production of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe that drew students, families, and community members to the school auditorium. Directed by Lynette Riggs and Becky Hadsell, the adaptation hewed closely to the original book while reducing run time slightly so the same students could also perform in the school Madrigal dinner later this month.

The show involved a cast and crew of 34 students, giving a broad cross section of the student body hands on experience in acting, stagecraft, and technical theater. Performances were scheduled Friday and Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. and a final matinee on Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets were sold at the door for five dollars, a price point intended to encourage attendance from families across Morgan County.

Local impact extended beyond entertainment. For participating students, the production provided practical training in time management and collaborative production under the direction of Riggs and Hadsell. For audiences, the performance offered an affordable cultural outing during the holiday season and a chance to support school arts at a moment when community events compete with other seasonal activities.

The decision to trim the run time illustrates a pragmatic balance between staging a faithful literary adaptation and accommodating overlapping school events. By allowing cast members to contribute to both the play and the Madrigal dinner, the school maximized student opportunities and broadened the reach of its arts programming within the same month.

As community theaters and school programs continue to serve as primary venues for local performing arts, Jacksonville High’s weekend staging underscores the role of school productions in sustaining cultural life in Morgan County while providing students with meaningful experiential learning.