The confluence of Ben's songwriting eloquence and his gritty tale of survival makes THE LION a worthy visit to the theater. Max Alexander-Taylor delivers a commanding performance that features a resonant tenor and a remarkable facility with five guitars. A confident actor, he has a natural gift for storytelling, though much of the nuanced execution can be ascribed to the deft staging ideas of Alex Stenhouse and Sean Daniels, who collaborated on THE LION'S revival.