In William Nicholson's The Shadowlands, renowned religious scholar and humorist C.S. Lewis appears as the main character and experiences some of the greatest life-moving principles. These principles for him are an understanding of God and love, both of which Lewis spends much of the play deliberating in an attempt to realize in what he really believes. Theatre Hopkins' production of the work is a well-cast, intensely emotional piece of biographical fiction that convinces the audience to empathize with Lewis and decide for themselves what it is that moves their daily lives.
The play opens with a monologue delivered by Lewis (Robert Riggs), who is upset about a terrible bus accident. "If God loves us," he asks, "why does he allow us to suffer so much?"
The themes of pain, suffering, and later love are what Lewis wrestles with constantly in relation to his beliefs in Christianity. It is also something that Lewis himself took to heart and it became a driving force throughout the rest of his life, reflected in his numerous lectures and writings.
As the story progresses, the audience is introduced to Lewis' brother, Warnie (J.R. Lyston), Lewis' friends, which ironically include both a priest and an atheist, and most importantly Joy Davidman Gresham (Vicki Margolis), who becomes more important than any other person in Lewis' life. Gresham enters the story through the letters between herself and Lewis, and they gradually become closer. Their relationship develops with subtlety and patience, and he frequently discusses the possibilities of relationships between friends versus those between romantic lovers. At one point he even comments that "soon the word 'friends' will have the same meaning as 'elves' and 'pixies.'"
The status quo changes drastically with two events. The first is when Gresham's marriage to her husband begins to fail. Even though Lewis is a strictly Christian man, in which laws prohibit a woman's remarriage, Lewis begins to recognize that there might be something even higher that allows it.
The second event is an illness that afflicts Gresham later in the play. Dealing with such confusion and suffering in a Christian way for C.S. Lewis is emotionally wrenching, especially juxtaposed with the innocence of Gresham's young son.
The Shadowlands is only partially true when compared to C.S. Lewis' real life. Lewis truly was a devout man, a change which occurred as a result of a conversation with fellow scholar and author J.R.R. Tolkien (he himself a Roman Catholic). Lewis wrote such books as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe along with the other Chronicles of Narnia, as well as The Screwtape Letters. In the mid 1950s, Lewis did marry Joy Davidman civilly and then ceremonially. The Shadowlands is an exploration of Lewis' life in its most critical moments and experiencing these moments as an audience member is truly moving.
This production will run through March 13 at the Merrick Barn.
