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| Shadowlands | |
|---|---|
| Written by | William Nicholson |
| Characters |
|
| Date premiered | 1989 |
| Place premiered | Theatre Royal,Plymouth |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | Biographical |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | Oxford, 1950s |
Shadowlands is a play byWilliam Nicholson adapted from his1985 television film of the same name, directed by Norman Stone and produced byDavid M. Thompson forBBC Wales. It debuted at the Theatre Royal inPlymouth on 5 October 1989 before premiering at theQueen's Theatre in London on 23 October 1989. The play is about the relationship betweenOxforddon and authorC. S. Lewis and the American writerJoy Gresham.
The story follows Lewis as he meets an American fan,Joy Gresham, whom he befriends and eventually marries. The story also focuses on his relationship with his brother,Warren Lewis and deals with his personal struggle: Lewis preaches that one should endure suffering with patience, but finds that the simple answers he had preached no longer apply when Joy becomes afflicted withcancer and eventually dies.
| Character | 1989 Plymouth cast | 1989 West End cast | 1990 Broadway cast | 2007 West End revival cast | 2019 Chichester cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joy Davidman | Jane Lapotaire | Jane Alexander | Janie Dee | Liz White | |
| C. S. Lewis | Nigel Hawthorne | Charles Dance | Hugh Bonneville | ||
| Warren Lewis | Geoffrey Toone | Michael Allinson | Richard Durden | Andrew Havill | |
The play opened at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth on 5 October 1989 before transferring to theQueen's Theatre in London on 23 October 1989, running until 8 September 1990. The stage version gave Joy Davidman only one son instead of two. The production was directed byElijah Moshinsky and starredNigel Hawthorne as Lewis withJane Lapotaire as Joy. It won Best Play in theEvening Standard Awards for 1990. Lapotaire was nominated for theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her stage performance.
Hawthorne successfully took the role of Lewis toBroadway, playing at theBrooks Atkinson Theatre from November 1990 to April 1991 and again directed by Moshinsky. It was nominated for theTony Award for Best Play.[1] Hawthorne co-starred in New York, withMichael Allinson as Warren Lewis andJane Alexander as Joy, who was now given her maiden name ofJoy Davidman. Hawthorne won a 1991 Tony award for Best Actor, while Nicholson picked up a nomination for Best Play.
The first major revival of the play, starringCharles Dance as Lewis andJanie Dee as Joy, premiered atCambridge Arts Theatre on 5 September 2007 before touring the UK. The production, directed by Michael Barker-Carven, transferred to theWyndham's Theatre on 3 October 2007 for an eleven-week season before transferring to theNovello Theatre where it ran from 21 December 2007 to 23 February 2008.
A new production ofShadowlands atChichester Festival Theatre opened on 26 April 2019. The production, which was directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, starredHugh Bonneville as Lewis,Liz White as Joy Gresham andAndrew Havill as Warren Lewis.
Joy in the stage version:
"See yourself in the mirror, you're separate from yourself. See the world in the mirror, you're separate from the world. I don't want that separation anymore."