Interview: David Payne of AN EVENING WITH C.S. LEWIS at AT&T Performing Arts Center

Charming, delightful, and dedicated to excellence, David Payne is encroaching upon his 1000th performance as C.S. Lewis in his play, An Evening with C.S. Lewis. Ever since this unlikely Brit made his debut as the lead in Shadowlands at a community theatre in Nashville many years ago, he has become a true expert on Lewis, writing and performing several different works based on the prolific author's life.

Tell us about your journey of how you went from non-actor, to playing C.S. Lewis, to playwright?

I never thought I would be acting- I didn't have this in-built passion to be an actor. The closest I ever got to that was when I was a young boy in England watching Roy Rogers films- I wanted to be a cowboy! I obviously was aware of Lewis, I had read some of his books of course. Many years ago in England, my first wife - who died about 4 years ago- and I took a friend out to see the play Shadowlands, a play about C.S. Lewis and his American wife, and I really was very impressed with it. About a year or so later my wife and I came to Nashville to work on a music project for a British company. The third year I was there, I happened to see an audition notice for Shadowlands- I thought I might try out and get a small part since I had a British accent- but I got the lead role! That was where it all started.

Later, I created a play called Mist in the Morning, almost entirely taken from Lewis' book, A Grief Observed, which he wrote when his wife died. I toured that for about a year, and people would come up and ask me about Lewis after the show- his relationship with his wife, his relationship with Tolkien, and it was then I thought I'd love for Lewis to be able to talk about the things that people ask about, but not in a question and answer session. I set the new show in his home, where he's being visited by a group of American writers, and he gives them a potted history of his life. That became An Evening with C.S. Lewis, and we've been doing that for over 20 years, and we're getting close to 1000 performances. Now, you can't keep doing that if people don't want to hear it- but they do!

How do you keep it fresh each time- does the show ever become dull for you, or do you always approach it with a kind of energy?

I always come to it with a kind of energy. If you ask me when I'm backstage if I'm tired and would like a break, I might say yes. But once I walk on that stage, I'm there. I'm ready. The audience gives you the energy. I keep it fresh by never thinking the show is finished. The words are the words- but there are a thousand ways to say the words. From my point of view, I don't think I've ever done a performance that's exactly the same as another one. You always find something new in expression. Besides that- each audience is different. In the earlier days I used to see it as me performing for the audience. Now I see it more as a matter of us- this is an us thing, not a me and them thing. We're doing the show together.

I love how seriously you take your work. Has the audience's familiarity with C.S. Lewis changed over the years? Are more people now just familiar with The Chronicles of Narnia?

I think there is a broader appreciation of Lewis. He doesn't just relate to the religious world, or to just the parents who read The Chronicles of Narnia to their children. The movies have certainly added another layer of appreciation. This is going to continue- Netflix has just committed to do all 7 books. His profile just continues to rise! One of the things that's interesting is I always assume that my audience is going to be more mature most of the time, and in many ways, it often is- but we just did a run in Chicago, and I was really surprised at just how many young people were there! Many of them would stay around afterwards, and they all just wanted to chat about Lewis. It's great, and it means the younger generation is growing up with Lewis as some of the younger generation today is growing up with The Beatles. I'm very fortunate I've chosen a character who was always popular, remains popular, and will always increase in popularity! We're preparing for the show to continue after I've long hung up my boots- but whoever is doing it in 20 years' time will probably be getting bigger audiences than I get, and that's really exciting.

What are some things about Lewis that you find you relate to the most?

Well, first of all, I have the same religious conviction as Lewis has, but that's not the reason why I'm doing this. When I first started the show, a newspaper in Tennessee wanted to do an interview. The interviewer said that since I have the same beliefs as Lewis, this show must be propaganda! I said, "Now wait just a minute- Firstly, there's no way you can do a play about Lewis without including his religious faith- it was fundamental to his life. That would be dishonest to the audience. So no, do not talk to me about propaganda. Come and see the play, and see if it works as a piece of art. I'm not there to promote Christianity even though I am a Christian- I'm there to do a play about C.S Lewis, and if it doesn't work theatrically, then tell me it doesn't work, but don't tell me it's propaganda." To me, the most important thing is whatever people pay, they have got to go out feeling that they got the value for their money, that it was a great show, and that's my job as an actor. I must deliver a play that is worthy of the money the audience spent.

You've had other projects- are there any non- C.S. Lewis projects that you're working on, or are interested in working on?

Not really, and I'll tell you why- I'm 77 years old and there's a limit to what you can do with the years you've got left. I focus on the subjects of Lewis and Tolkien- there's so much material in there. Now, if Steven Spielberg phoned me up and asked me to be in his new film, I might say yes, but I don't think he's going to do that. However, I've got a play called Weep for Joy, which is a Shadowlands type play but is more in-depth looking at the struggle he had when his wife Joy died. I've got a play about his relationship with his adoptive mother- which I think is a wonderful story. The only non-Lewis thing I've done is a play called Prisoner Passion, about Paul the Apostle when he's under house arrest in Rome. I have no aspirations to write much else, other than to continue my development of Lewis. When you write a play, you realize that it's never finished. No plays are ever finished, but there comes a point where you have to take it from one stage to the next, so that's what I've been doing- revisiting them to make them better than they were.

I admire your dedication to excellence! Is there anything else you want our readers to know?

The only thing I will say is- people can come along to the play without knowing anything about Lewis. I think they're going to find a thoroughly enjoyable experience, they're going to find themselves laughing far more than they thought they would, and that's partly because Lewis was a humorist. I've had grown men tell me, "I didn't think you'd make me cry, but you did." We don't have an intermission, it's about 80 minutes long, and many times people tell me that they didn't realize that 80 minutes could go that fast! I think if you come along to the play, you will laugh, you will cry, and as one man said, "My wife dragged me along. I came kicking and screaming. I loved it."

An Evening with C.S. Lewis runs from January 16-19, 2020 at the Wyly Theatre in Dallas, Texas. Tickets and more information can be found here.

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