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Bridge theatre, LondonNicholas Hytner brings a dazzling wizard’s touch to this adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantasy taleNearly two decades ago, Nicholas Hytner triumphantly staged Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials at the National Theatre. He returns to that questing world with this version of the first volume in another trilogy, set 12 years earlier than His Dark Materials. Hytner displays the same wizard’s touch for turning Pullman’s fast, fantasy narratives into theatrical gold. His supremely elegant production is vast, but never unruly, on a set that dazzles but does not swamp the storytelling.Bryony Lavery’s adaptation is lean without short-changing us on the story. A newborn Lyra Belacqua is being hunted by the theocratic authorities after her anti-Christian future is prophesied. Malcolm is the 10-year-old son of an inn-keeper (a single mother here) who becomes embroiled in Lyra’s care along with his prickly fellow adventurer, Alice. Continue reading...