Review: SHADOWLANDS, Birmingham Rep, May 31 2016

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre is transported back to Oxford in the 1950s for Birdsong Productions' new adaptation of Shadowlands. Written by William Nicholson, Shadowlands is based on the unlikely romance between C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham, and follows their first meeting, developing relationship and the untimely end of their marriage.

C.S. Lewis (known throughout the production as Jack) has been corresponding with the American Joy Gresham, and agrees to meet her, in person, for tea. Following Joy's divorce, she moves to Oxford with her son Douglas. She and Jack are married but only "technically"; she benefits from his UK citizenship and, as they are both committed Christians, it is a civil ceremony. When Joy becomes suddenly ill with bone cancer, and is given weeks to live, Jack realises the full force of his feelings for her and proposes. After Joy's illness miraculously abates, the couple enjoy three happy years of marriage before her eventual death.

William Nicholson's script is slow-moving to start off with, but the pace increases and interest deepens once Jack and Joy have met. The long passages of dialogue give us a really detailed impression of every character. Jack and Joy's exchanges of wit and intellect, fired at a pace no one else can possibly maintain, show how their developing relationship is perhaps inevitable. The script is also very funny, with Joy's dry humour, and Jack's teenage-like, clumsy awkwardness in the face of intimacy.

Jack's lengthy monologues, delivered as academic talks, expose the relationship between love, pain and suffering. Repeated three times (once after the death of Joy), we find new meaning with each repetition. It is easy to see why C.S. Lewis became so crucial to post-war English identity, as the script powerfully articulates his conviction that pain and suffering are crucial to the existence of love.

Stephen Boxer gives a committed and absorbing performance as Jack. His voice is rich and warm, alternating between the pace and power of the Oxford intellectual, and the slower, undulating tones of the children's fantasy author. Boxer brings Jack to life with small details; frequently searching his pockets for change and occasionally hurrying some lines, as though questioning his own thought process. His portrayal of Jack's grief is utterly heartbreaking. With laborious, slow movements and a diminished, cracked voice, Boxer is visibly burdened with the weight of Jack's grief.

Amanda Ryan is fantastic as Joy Gresham, delivering Nicholson's barbed, witty dialogue with an engaging smile that makes her character impressive, but not intimidating. Ryan masters the strong New York drawl with ease, lending Joy brashness and extravagance completely absent from the very restrained Oxford professors. With gritted teeth, clenched wrists and that effervescent smile, Ryan's portrayal of a cancer battle is touchingly brave, and surely strikes a chord with every member of the audience.

The entire cast give dedicated, nuanced performances, making Shadowlands a richly illustrated production. Shannon Rewcroft stands out as Joy's son Douglas with a moving, subtle interpretation of the teenage boy experiencing loss for the first time.

C.S. Lewis is best known as the author of the Narnia series, and Shadowlands draws apt parallels with this fantasy world. An ordinary apple becomes extraordinary when given to Joy by Douglas before her life-extending surgery. A shadowy lamppost and silvery tree glisten through a window, as Jack mesmerises Douglas with a re-telling of The Magician's Nephew.

Jack's conviction that the present world is merely the Shadowlands, the idea that we can move onto other worlds which are brighter, more vivid and more magical, shows that perhaps Narnia is more than a fantasy. Shadowlands concludes with the beautiful, uplifting notion that Joy has now left the shadowy present and moved to a land more like Narnia, where Jack will surely join her.

The early scenes of Shadowlands are very slow-paced, and the heavy trucks of set, wheeled by the cast, seem unnecessary and clunky. However, these are minor points that do nothing to detract from this incredibly absorbing and touching production. Shadowlands is not only a beautiful portrayal of an unlikely and tragic romance, but also deeply human examination of the grief, loss and suffering we are prepared to endure for love.

Photo credit: Jack Ladenberg

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