Narnia's Creator Talks to Marin

Famed authors J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were both on the English faculty at Oxford University, and each mined Britain’s rich history of folklore. Tolkien produced Lord of the Rings; Lewis penned The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Dawn Treader and more. But Lewis was also a Christian academic. And as his biographical play, Shadowlands, opens, the famed author comes downstage to address the audience about the mystery of God’s love.



“I think that God does not necessarily want us to be happy,” says Prof. Lewis. “I think he wants us to be lovable. Pain is God’s megaphone to wake a deaf world,” a world that is, he says, but a shadow of what’s to come. C. S. Lewis, a lifelong bachelor, already knew something about pain, having lost his mother when he was only eight. But there was more to come.


As if to illustrate the dual nature of the world, an onstage screen opens to show layers of scenes behind, all played out before a fantasy backdrop of giant books, a stylized tree and, of course, the magic wardrobe. The audience learns that an American fan of Lewis’, Joy Davidman Gresham, had been corresponding with him, and now that she and her son are here in England, she’d like to meet for tea. After Lewis agrees, another tea is arranged at his place, with an introduction to the writer’s brother, Warnie. The Greshams’ home visit is followed by a Christmas in which Joy and her son are now houseguests of the Lewis brothers.


But “Jack” Lewis’ Oxford associates are cool to lukewarm about his new American lady friend. One colleague, Prof. Christopher Riley, admits privately that he can’t stand Joy Gresham, and he indulges his desire to needle her when they’re together. When she affirms that Lewis’ books are big sellers in the United States, Riley asks if there’d been a translation problem. “Has The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe been changed into The Lion, the Witch and the Clothes Closet?” She returns a question of her own; is Prof. Riley being “offensive or merely stupid?” Not long after, though, a letter from home takes her back to the United States, and the Lewis brothers miss her. When she does return, she has a favor to ask Jack, “friend to friend.” The favor will unite them in a shared, but short, future.



Shadowlands was written by William Nicholson, whose mother, says Director Linda Dunn, was a student of Lewis’. (Nicholson edited out one of Joy Gresham’s two children, leaving only Douglas in the script.) Linda Dunn saw the play in London when it premiered there in 1990, and, she says, “It continues to touch my heart.” The play was also made into a film three years later, with Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger.


In Ross Valley Players’ production, Chuck Isen portrays the locked-down, buttoned-up Lewis, with Jennifer Reimer as Joy Gresham. (Note: My husband and I also saw a London production of Shadowlands, and Reimer’s Joy gives a much better performance.) Wood Lockhart plays the acerbic Prof. Riley, with young Philip Bohlman as Douglas Gresham and RVP regular, Alex Ross, as Lewis’ kind and dependable brother, Warnie. Anne Ripley, unfortunately, has only a tiny part, but she’s the only other female in the script. Hugh Campion, Oak Dowling, Matt Farrell and Joel Roth round out the large cast.


Megan Kenyon designed the fanciful set, which takes some getting used-to, as does the frequent use of the sliding screen. Director Linda Dunn keeps scene changes brisk, though, and momentum is not lost between scenes.


In a final, touching discussion with young Douglas, Lewis acknowledges that he has no answers. The magic apple doesn’t work, the wardrobe does not open into another world, and pain – even if it’s part of a grand design – hurts.


Shadowlands will play at The Barn Theatre in the Marin Art & Garden Center, Ross, through April 20. Evening performances run Thursdays through Saturdays, with matinees at 2pm on Sundays. Prices range from $16 to $20. For reservations, call 456-9555 or see the website, http://www.rossvalleyplayers.com/.


Future Family Event: A free staged reading of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will be presented for family audiences by RVP cast members on April 5 at 2pm. Reservations are strongly recommended for this one-time performance.