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 "So touching...Wonderful performances by
Jim Morley and Jim Farrell...Delightful to watch."
--Kelly Kleiman
Dueling
Critics,
Jonathan Abarbanel and Kelly Kleiman, discuss Shadowlands on WBEZ
91.5 FM, Chicago Public Radio's program,
Eight Forty-Eight, 11/14/2008
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T.I.C.
TOP LIST
The
Highest Rated Shows In Chicago
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Highly Recommended
"Don’t miss
this beautiful production."
Tom Williams, www.chicagocritic.com
Date Reviewed: November 3, 2008
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“Shadowlands” is a heartwarming middle
aged love story
Redtwist Theatre continues mounting fine shows. Their latest, William
Nicholson’s “Shadowlands,” is a wonderful tear-jerker. This romantic
love story tells the story of famous British author and scholar, C. S.
Lewis, a committed bachelor, Christian, and Oxford professor, with
outspoken American poet, Joy Gresham. In “Shadowlands”, their unlikely
romance poses the elemental questions about God and love, life
and death, pain and suffering.
We meet the witty and shy intellectual, ‘Jack’ C. S. Lewis (Brian
Parry) and his live-in brother “Warnie” Lewis (Jim Morley) as they live
a stoic existence in there drafty Oxford flat. They exchange port with
their colleagues while debating the merits of women, sin and the nature
of pain. Jack appears as a shy bachelor content to spend his days
lecturing and writing. His fantasies abound as the creator of Narnia
and “The Lion, The Witch” and “The Wardrobe.” Lewis also wrote much on
Christian theology.
His life comes undone when he becomes captivated by his correspondence
with an American poet Joy Davidman Gresham (Jacqueline Grandt) that
results in their meeting for tea in Oxford. Joy and her young son,
Douglas (Charlie Bazzell) are on an extended visit to England. Jack and
Joy immediately have the sparks flying despite Jack being so shy that
he nervously puts one hand in his jacket pocket as if he is feeling for
a lost item. Brian Parry plays Jack as a nerdy, overly shy yet a polite
and nurturing soul. Parry is a
marvelous actor whose articulation and
subtlety can convey pent up emotion nicely. We love Jack as we
cheer
for him to find some love in his life. Joy’s outspoken American manner
doesn’t sit well with Warnie or Jack’s colleagues.
Joy seems to have her own agenda once she divorces her cheating
husband. She returns to Oxford and surprises Jack. She takes a house
nearby and flirts with the shy writer. More sparks fly and the romance
is on. Can the first kiss be far away? Jack is smitten by the
intelligent outspoken poet despite her being hated by his
friends.shadows3
Jack agrees to ‘marry’ Joy in a civil ceremony so she can stay in Great
Britain legally. As a divorcé Joy and Jack (who is an
Anglican)—they can not marry in the Church. Jack’s marriage is an act
of friendship—not love. Strictly a legal maneuver. This changes when
Joy falls ill to advances bone cancer that put her near death. Jack
realizes that Joy has offered him the pleasure of her companionship
that leads to more than friendship—to love. Jack questions why God
allows people to suffer pain. Is pain the cost of love?
The last scenes involving the three years Joy and Jack are allowed to
enjoy when the cancer miraculously goes into remission are pure
enjoyment. Jack finally experiences love; Joy has a supporting man in
her life. Parry and Grandt have a
wonderful on stage chemistry that is
electrifying. Bring your hankies for the sad last few scenes.
Tears
flow as Joy finds warmth and comfort sharing her life and ultimately
her battle against cancer, with her loving husband.
“Shadowlands” is a marvelously
romantic play with characters we
grow to love. It celebrates the triumph of the human spirit. It also
shows that love can come to us later in life. It is nice to see a
middle aged couple enjoy romantic love. It gives us hope. With a fine
script and three marvelous artists (Steve Scott, Brian Parry and
Jacqueline Grandt) at the top of their craft, “Shadowlands” unfolds as
one of the finest shows of the season! Don’t miss this beautiful
production.
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Stirring
'Shadowlands'
By Kerry Reid | SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE
November 7, 2008
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C.S. Lewis is enjoying a mini-revival on
Chicago stages, with "The Screwtape Letters" at the Mercury and now
Redtwist's simple but moving production of William Nicholson's
"Shadowlands"—his at-times-too-talky biographical drama about the
celibate Lewis' unlikely marriage to outspoken American poet Joy
Gresham, cut short by her death from cancer.
Sensitively directed
by Goodman associate Steve Scott,
this is an
unapologetic tear-jerker with a brain as well as heart. One
senses,
though, that Nicholson has shaped the biography to fit a little too
neatly with the spiritual dilemma laid out by Lewis' lecture at the top
of the show: If God loves us, why does he allow us to suffer so much?
Brian Parry's Lewis tends to stay in his tweedy shell a bit too
long—his equanimity in the face of Joy's impending demise can feel a
touch chilly at times. But by the play's end, as that reserve breaks
down, we believe that he has indeed, as his puckish fellow dons at
Oxford used to joke, been "Surprised by Joy" (riffing on the title of a
1956 Lewis work).
And what a Joy.
Jacqueline Grandt, who tends to play the brassy
self-involved women in Redtwist productions, shows a softer, but no
less persuasive, side as the Jewish-Communist-Christian divorcee and
mother. It's no wonder the gaggle of academics comprising Lewis' boys'
club doesn't know what to make of her spirited and open-hearted
approach to life—and small wonder that she made such an indelible
impression on the reflexively self-protective writer.
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Recommended
Centerstage Show Review
Reviewer: Laura Kolb, Friday Nov 07, 2008 |
A
lyrical and moving portrait of C.S.
Lewis’s late-life romance, Redtwist Theatre’s production of
“Shadowlands” depicts the process by which the repressed, deeply
religious scholar learns to love. As Lewis
(brilliantly played by Brian
Parry) explains in the opening monologue, the fleeting
experiences of
ordinary life are not real. Earthly love and suffering, he believes,
are mere shadows, dim and imperfect precursors of a bright eternal
world to come.
The monologue recurs throughout the play, each time with changed
emotional import. Love and suffering, the play’s twin themes, disrupt
Lewis’s contemplative life, arriving unbidden in the form of brash
American poet, Joy Gresham (Jacqueline Grandt). After exchanging
letters, the two meet when Gresham comes to England with her son,
Douglas (Charlie Bazzell), a dreamy boy who adores Lewis's Narnia
books. Their friendship turns to love, and Lewis is forced to expand
his understanding of the value of ordinary life. When Joy becomes
gravely ill, he comes to realize that suffering is a necessary
component of real love.
Redtwist Theatre
gracefully interprets William Nicholson’s moving
script. The one false note came as a surprise: The several
British
accents on display were light, suggestive, and created more by
intonation than pronunciation; they may not convince a purist, but they
worked for me. It came as a surprise, then, that Grandt’s Joy Gresham
spoke with a broad American accent. Because of her dropped G’s and
flat-as-Kansas A’s she sounded, at times, a little dumb. That's what
Lewis’ fellow Oxford dons think of her at first, but the same effect
could be achieved with more subtlety. As it is, the enormous
intelligence of her lines comes across as accidental, merely precocious.
But under Steve
Scott’s adept direction, the cast handles this
extremely wordy play with charm and grace, from academics’ banter over
claret to lovers’ spirited debates. Indeed, it is a rare treat to see
actors engage intellectually, as well as emotionally, with difficult
material; this performance of “Shadowlands” demonstrates that the
theater can engage the mind as well as the heart.
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Highly Recommended
Critical Evaluation: **** out of ****
by Ruth Smerling, Steadstyle Chicago
http://www.steadstylechicago.com/shadowlands.htm
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REDTWIST
THEATRE STARTS NEW CHAPTER WITH SHADOWLANDS
Sound the trumpets, the Redtwist Theatre is newly energized with a
vibrant new paint job changing all the doors to red. The red,
complemented by some black and charcoal, gives the whole place a regal
aura and a distinctive personality that set it apart from every other
theatre in Chicago.
Their new era opens with a hard-hitting drama and love story, William
Nicholson’s Shadowlands,
a stirring tribute to C.S. Lewis, the great and humble Christian author
and scholar best known for his Narnia
stories. Goodman Theatre Artistic Associate, Steve Scott
directs. Scott proved he has a gift for directing works that
center around relationships that have great expectations with severe
limitations with Yohen for
Silk Road Theatre, the story of an unlikely couple who despite their
feelings for each other, cannot be together without hurting each other.
Redtwist ensemble member Brian Parry (Equus,
Three Hotels) takes on the daunting role as Jack, as Lewis
was known to family and friends. Lewis knew emptiness,
disappointment and suffering from the time he was a young boy. His
mother passed away when he was only eight years old, leaving a huge gap
in the family. With a heart full of anger, fear and grief he questioned
demanded his creator give him some release from his suffering, that
faith inspired all his future work. He remained close with his family
and in later years lived with his brother, Major W. H. Lewis, who was
affectionately called Warnie. Jim Morley plays Warnie, the voice of
reason in C. S. Lewis’ life, always trying to keep him on level ground.
Out of the blue he receives a fan letter from an American woman who
tells him she’s read everything he’s ever written and that she loves
his work. She tells him that she will be visiting England with her
son and wants to meet him. Warnie of course thinks she’s just a
golddigger, but Jack, part flattered, part dutiful to his public,
agrees to meet her. Jacqueline Grandt,
clad in Erin Fast’s elegantly gaudy 1950’s high fashion designs, is delightful as the brassy, endearing Joy
Gresham who enters Lewis’ subdued pastoral life like
gangbusters.
Over countless pots of tea, Mrs. Gresham reveals that she is in much
the same boat at Jack. Her husband is an abusive alcoholic in love
with another woman. Charlie Bazzell plays her young son Douglas, a
quiet boy who must come to grips with the unfairness of an absent
father. Bazzell, a very
professional young actor, would also make a great Oliver Twist,
is wonderful as the child who has suffered unbearable trauma, but
believes that his suffering will pass.With his mother, he has found
comfort and solace as she reads him Narnia stories bedtime at
night. Soon, despite the flurry of gossip in the town, they all
develop a friendship and it looks like all is well. Then cruel
Mother Nature strikes again. Mrs. Gresham starts to experience
unbearable pain. She’s rushed to the hospital to be diagnosed with
inoperable cancer. Once again Jack must experience loss, suffering
and emptiness.
Shadowlands
runs a full gamut of emotions and it would be wise to bring a few
tissues for dabbing at your eyes. Grandt and Parry have no problem
dealing with the best and worst life has to offer as the two unlikely
soulmates who find comfort with each other for a brief time. Kevin
Durnbaugh’s set with heaps of books everywhere, a desk and a tea table
quickly converts into a social club, where C. S. Lewis hobnobs with
friends like Reverend Harrington (Robert Dennison), Dr. Maurice Oakley
(Michael Bailey Dorn), Professor Christopher Riley (Jim Farrell) and
Alan Gregg (Robert Tobin). Some of these actors double as other
minor characters.
Shadowlands
is a story about a great man who was dealt a meager hand yet never lost
faith. Brian Parry’s performance
is unforgettable as a man who must constantly find strength to
gratefully accept his place in God’s world.
Shadowlands
runs through November 30 at the all new Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn
Mawr. Phone 773-RAV-PLAY and visit www.redtwist.org for
information on the season ahead.
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Recommended
Reviewed by Albert Williams, 10-9-08 |
Set in 1950s England, William Nicholson's
fact-based drama relates how C.S. Lewis, a middle-aged academic known
for his Narnia books, befriended the much younger American poet Joy
Gresham. When Gresham divorced her abusive husband, Lewis married her
so she could stay in the UK--and only came to realize how much he loved
her after she was diagnosed with bone cancer. The relationship
triggered a crisis of faith in Lewis as he struggled to reconcile his
belief in a loving God with the suffering he and Gresham endured. The story is moving regardless of one's
views on religion, and director Steve Scott's intimate production
steers clear of sentimental mawkishness, benefiting greatly from
sensitive lead performances by Brian Parry and Jacqueline Grandt.
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Redtwist
Theatre has solid foundation
October 31, 2008
BY MARY HOULIHAN
Curtain Call/mhoulihan@suntimes.com |
Redtwist
Theatre in the Edgewater neighborhood is one of those feisty, ambitious
companies that give storefront theater a good name.
Founded by Michael Colucci, Redtwist (formerly known at the Actors
Workshop Theatre) has built a reputation
as a solid presenter of
classic American dramas and beyond.
In 1994, Colucci was an actor (he studied with the legendary Ted Liss)
morphing into a teacher when he founded the Actors Workshop.
Occasionally, he would corral students and others and put on a show.
Colucci now runs the company with his wife, actress Jan Ellen Graves.
They met when she played his wife in a production of Arthur Miller's
"Broken Glass."
"We do everything from directing to taking out the garbage," Colucci
said, laughing.
Itinerant in its first years, Redtwist moved into its 40-seat Edgewater
home in 2002, with its first full season debuting in 2004. The name
change followed.
"We felt the old name was indicative of our humble beginnings and we
had outgrown it," Colucci said, adding that Redtwist comes from the
company's mission statement to "do white-hot drama, in a tiny black
box, with a little red twist."
The twist embodies Colucci's choice of plays; some are familiar, others
obscure. For example, that first season was composed of five rarely
produced Arthur Miller plays, including "The American Clock" and "The
Last Yankee." The company found great success with its stunning 2007
production of Peter Shaffer's "Equus," which won a Jeff Award for best
actor.
The current season is just as ambitious as past seasons. It begins with
William Nicholson's "Shadowlands," directed by Goodman Theatre
associate producer Steve Scott, and continues with "Marvin's Room"
(Dec. 18-Jan. 18), "The Goat, or, Who Is Sylvia" (February and March),
"Aura" (April and May), "Ride Down Mount Morgan" (June) and "Waiting
for Godot" (July and August).
Nicholson based "Shadowlands" on the inspiring love story between
British author C.S. Lewis (Brian Parry), a committed bachelor,
Christian and Oxford professor, and outspoken American poet Joy Gresham
(Jacqueline Grandt).
"I love that this play is about a guy with a small life emotionally but
a large life within his imagination," Colucci said. "When his life
takes this big turn, he has to face risk and the unknown, but he rises
to the occasion."
Colucci, who is 55, laughs when asked if founding a new theater company
was sort of crazy, seeing that most new companies seem to be comprised
of youngsters right out of theater school.
"We went into this with enthusiasm but at the same time with a bit of
kicking and screaming," Colucci said. "It might have been too bold a
move for a couple of 50-somethings, and we're still not sure it was the
right decision. But we're still open, and that's a good thing."
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