Shadowlands
William Nicholson
Directed by Rachel Kavanaugh
Aldwych Theatre
Star rating: 4
It’s quite a treat to see a beautifully crafted, grown up play, given the number I see in the course of my work which are neither.
I admired Rachel Kavanaugh’s take on Shadowlands at Chichester in 2019. The production has matured since and sits very well on the much smaller stage of the Aldwych theatre. It’s an intimate piece and this restaging highlights that. Hugh Bonneville, once more, is the crowd puller.
CS “Jack” Lewis was an Oxford Academic, a deeply convinced Christian, who wrote many books about his beliefs. With the seven Narnia books (dubbed “juvenile dementia” by a waggish colleague according to Shadowlands) he became an international household name. A mildly eccentric but friendly bachelor, he lived with his brother in Oxford. Joy Davidman was an American divorcee with two children who, against all the odds, became his friend and eventually a beloved wife. Shadowlands tells the story of that blissfully happy but shortlived relationship.
At the crux of it is The Problem of Pain (actually the title of one of CS Lewis’s books, published in 1940). How can a Christian reconcile the suffering in the world with the concept of a loving, omnipotent God? At first glance it’s not exactly a “sexy” subject for a play but with Nicholson’s script, Kavanaugh’s imagination and some fine acting it becomes richly compelling.
As Jack, Bonneville, as you’d expect, excels. He gives us a character who is initially an urbane, confident academic. The play opens with him delivering a lecture. Two hours later he is (literally) a howling wreck. It’s a developmentally well-paced and ultimately moving performance. And Maggie Siff more than matches him as Joy – there’s always chemistry and humour between them even when she’s prostrate in a hospital bed and he finally accepts that he really is in love with her.
Pleasing supporting performances include Jeff Rawle as the long-suffering, vulnerable, perceptive brother Warnie and the deliciously sardonic Timothy Watson as Jack’s academic colleague Christopher Riley.
And Peter McKintosh’s lofty, booklined set which sometimes opens to reveal a Narnia fantasy creates exactly the right ambience.
It’s emotional without being mawkish and thoughtful without being didactic. Well worth catching.
