The first show of New England Repertory Theater at MMAS Black Box Theater
for the 2009 season is "Shadowlands" by William Nicholson. The show takes
place in Oxford, England in the 1950's and is the story about C.S. Lewis, an
Oxford don and children's book author of the Narnia Chronicles and Joy
Gresham, an American divorcee. It is told with vignettes of Jack's life
before they met and his relationship with the men at Oxford, his brother,
Warnie and how her son, Douglas influenced his life after her death. The
show is performed in the round according to director Lucas Llyod " he chose
to present it in the round due to the magic that was at the center of Lewis'
vision of the world and at the center of the events in this production. For
the central characters of the story, and for Lewis in particular, all they
can physically see and interact with are the mundane realities in front of
them, But what they don't see is a world all around them that is even more
real than their own world." It starts off with his lecture about "Love,
pain and suffering" as he delivers the lecture the audience learns he became
an atheist after his mother's death from cancer when he was 10 years old and
how he became a Christian. It follows Lewis as he meets an American fan, Joy
Gresham, who he befriends and eventually marries. The story also deal with
his struggle with personal pain and grief: Lewis preaches that one should
endure suffering with patience, but finds that the simple answers he
preached no longer apply when Joy becomes afflicted with terminal cancer and
eventually dies. The magic world Lewis created influences Joy's son to enter
the wardrobe in Lewis' home to find a magic apple to cure his mother and
when this seems to work, the audience believes in this magical world. Jack
first regards Joy as an agreeable intellectual companion and personal
friend, and agrees to enter into a civil marriage contract with her so that
she could continue to live in England. Lewis' brother, Warnie wrote "Joy was
the only woman whom he had met who had a brain which matched his own in
suppleness, in width of interest, and in analytical grasp, and above all in
humour and a sense of fun." Although the story might at first be not
appealing, it's intellectual and interesting qualities of the presentation
will draw you into the shadows of this play, leaving you laughing at the
humorous moments which are many as well as the tragic, dramatic ones, too.
Mr. Lloyd not only directs the show beautifully but he choreographs the cast
into moving set pieces on and off stage with ease, keeping the scenes
flowing into one another perfectly. His eleven member cast delivers the
goods in all these various roles especially 10 year old Matt Kassler as
Douglas who tugs at your heartstrings in a touching scene after his mother's
death in the second act. This scene resonates with the audience who can
relate to it and it parallels Lewis' loss of his mother at the same age.
Lucas surrounds himself with topnotch technical staff, too. He is
a wonderful actor as well as director, having reviewed him in "Barefoot in
the Park" and "Wait Until Dark". Glenn Fournier designed the set including
the hardwood floors and the magical closet with special effects including
the smoke and lighting by Ken Butler. All the 1950's costumes are by Mary
Jane McCool as are the props and the sound design is by Justin Trask. The
stage managers who keep things running smoothly all night long are Alan
Conway and Alina Favazza who is also in the show as the Nurse. Leading the
cast is Mike Kiernan as Jack who has 100 pages of lines in the show. He runs
the gamut of emotions from anger, confusion, befuddled to joy and passion
when he finally realizes he loves Joy when he comes to almost losing her.
Dawn Crocker Tucker is excellent as Joy and she is a member of Actors'
Equity. She is a beautiful strawberry blonde who is demure at first, then
speaks her mind to Jack's stuffy friends especially the overbearing know it
all, Christopher Riley played wonderfully by Frank Bartucca. Her scenes in
the hospital bed are riveting and the relationship with her son is heartfelt
and tender. (She utters the line about entering into the shadows right
before Joy's death.) As I said earlier Matt Kassler is astounding at a young
age, paying rapt attention to the other performers whether he is delivering
dialogue or just listening to them deliver their lines. Bruce Church plays
Warnie. His looks of astonishment at his brother's behavior are hilarious
and as always his line delivery is perfect. Bruce can handle dramatic and
comic roles with ease and this is another feather in his cap. Other talented
members of the cast include Paul Bono as Reverend Harry Harrington who tells
Jack he can't marry them in the Church of England at that time due to Joy
being a divorcee, Joe Favazza who plays Maurice Oakley a professor and also
Joy's doctor, Joe LaGreca, who plays Alan Gregg, a friend of Jack's, Tom
Ostrowski who plays a priest who marries them in the hospital and Alice
Springer as the Registrar who performs their civil ceremony. So for a look
back at an episode in the life of the popular author of children's books,
Christian apologist, literary critic, academic, radio broadcaster and
novelist, be sure to catch "Shadowlands" at MMAS.
SHADOWLANDS ( 13 February to 1 March, 2009)
New England Repertory Company, MMAS, 30 Crocker
Street, Mansfield, MA
