Customer Reviews

Shadowlands

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A touching play, based on the true love story of C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham. Very well written in simple words about "love, pain, and suffering." Witty, funny, honest, very human. -- Ed Lee

This is a great play, but an earlier review incorrectly identifes Lewis as the author of the "Alice In Wonderland" stories, when he wrote the Narnia Chronicles.

Shadowlands is my all-time favorite play to read on a rainy day, on a lazy Sunday, and even on a rainy, lazy Sunday! The story of the famous Christian writer, C.S. Lewis, moves the reader to tears, laughter, and reminds us that life is a precious gift. Lewis marries a divorced woman named Joy, which creates a conflict with his solid religious beliefs. Joy's severe case of bone cancer causes Lewis to question the God in whom he has so firmly belived, despite his famous speeches written about the purpose of pain and suffering. As Lewis is forced to grow up through experience, one can share his emotions and close the book with renewed faith and hope for our own lives. Nicholson writes eloquently, bringing to life Lewis' speeches on pain and suffering within the play. The play is based on the actual lives of Lewis and Joy.

When I first read this book and my husband and I first watched the film together, he was well, and we were very happy. It was a second marriage for both of us, and we planned on making up for time lost in, unsuccessful, unhappy marriages for both of us, with another twenty or so years of happiness together. He has since passed away after we fought his Cancer together for almost two years. Obviously, the story of Shadowlands has taken on new meaning for me. I have, since his death, read "Grief Observed" by C. S. Lewis, and I would recommend that anyone reading "Shadowlands", also read this essay. It isn't very long, and it helps incredibly to bring some meaning to these tragedies of life.

Shadowlands is my all-time favorite play to read on a rainy day, on a lazy Sunday, and even on a rainy, lazy Sunday! The story of the famous Christian writer, C.S. Lewis, moves the reader to tears, laughter, and reminds us that life is a precious gift. Lewis marries a divorced woman named Joy, which creates a conflict with his solid religious beliefs. Joy's severe case of bone cancer causes Lewis to question the God in whom he has so firmly belived, despite his famous speeches written about the purpose of pain and suffering. As Lewis is forced to grow up through experience, one can share his emotions and close the book with renewed faith and hope for our own lives. Nicholson writes eloquently, bringing to life Lewis' speeches on pain and suffering within the play. The play is based on the actual lives of Lewis and Joy.

A perfect play! Something that one could really relate to. Love & pain and the connection between them...you can't get one without the other! Also, great ideas on God's infliction of suffering, something very believable for me. "We're like blocks of stone, out of which the sculptor carves the forms of men. The blows of his chisel, which hurt us so much, are what makes us perfect. The suffering in the world is not the failure of God's love for us; it is that love in action." How true!

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) was a noted English scholar, author, and Christian. Joy Davidman Gresham (1915-1960) was a noted American poet and Christian who fell under Lewis' influence. In 1952 she traveled to England to meet him and they struck up a somewhat unlikely friendship. When Gresham decided to divorce her difficult husband, Lewis married her in a 1956 civil ceremony in order that she might remain in England. Shortly thereafter Gresham was diagnoised with bone cancer and, rather ironically, Lewis actually fell in love with her. Her death in 1960 devastated Lewis, who wrote the book A Grief Observed about Greshman and his collapse in the wake of her death.

SHADOWLANDS originated as a made-for-television 1985 by William Nicholson that the author adapted to the stage in 1989, with play opening in England and then playing in in America in 1990, where it ran less than two hundred performances. Although it won a Tony Award for Best Play, it was more of a critical favorite than a popular success; even so, the play was adapted to the big screen in 1993, directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger as Lewis and Gresham--and once again proved more of a critical favorite than a popular success.

The play, which is in two acts, surprised me because it didn't actually give much information about either Lewis or Gresham; Nicholson seems to be writing under the assumption that we know who they were, and in consequence Lewis emerges as a bit of a sob sister and Gresham seems to be a minor but eccentric poet. Although the marriage was very unpopular with Lewis' circle, this receives only the barest mention, and ultimately the play is simply the tale of two seemingly unmatchable people who do in fact fall in love and are then separated by untimely death. It is well written, but it lacks depth, and quite frankly it seems more commonplace than outstanding.

It is worth noting that plays are written to be seen in performance, not to be read; a script is essentially a blue print that is interpreted by artists and technicians. As such, it is sometimes very difficult to imagine from a script how a play works on the stage. Even so, with its references to C.S. Lewis' writings and its failure to clarify both these and its characters, I found SHADOWLANDS well written but ordinary.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I received a GREAT PRICE. Item ARRIVED QUICKLY IN the DESCRIBED CONDITION. I WILL USE THEM AGAIN IF I NEED A SIMILAR ITEM.

The true story of the love between Christian apologetic C.S. Lewis And Joy Gresham is dramatized for the play told in "Shadowlands." From their correspondence, through their marriage and her death due to cancer, William Nicholson tells this dramatic story with humor, wit and strong characters. Fans of C.S. Lewis, and of great drama, will surely enjoy "Shadowlands."

Grade: A

Even most well-written plays are an absolute bore to read. But William Nicholson's SHADOWLANDS (title taken from the final chapter of the final book in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA) may present a different case to C.S. Lewis fans the world over.

Fans of the movie will be pleased since they are already familiar with the lines spoken by the characters. But all Lewis fans will be fascinated because this play gives the reader a front row seat (no pun intended) to the life that Jack and Joy had together. Even though the story does take certain liberties (for instance Joy Gresham had two sons, the elder named David), it's still a rewarding way to spend one's time and is short enough (100 pages) to read in one sitting.

If you're looking for a more factual account of C.S. Lewis's life with Joy Gresham, I would recommend the book LENTEN LANDS by Douglas Gresham.