Review-Shadowlands-Hong Kong Players
30-5-13
By: Tom Hope
I haven’t seen the movie and did not know the details of this true life tale – of how the man who magicked up Narnia found a special kind of love in later life with Joy Davidman, an American poet 17 years his junior, after she forced her way into his ivory towered world with her son Douglas in retreat from a failing marriage. For more, see here.
Taking my seat for this show, I was impressed by the meticulously appointed set – a mock up interior of C.S. (‘Jack’) Lewis’ Oxford home from the 1950s. My expectations were all the more set for a meticulously crafted chamber piece – a sort of live television, plenty of tea and sympathy mixed in with witty transatlantic dialogue and donnish quips. And that is very much there in William Nicolson’s dialogue – and very fine dialogue it is too.
Right from the start, though, the piece works as drama, with Jack soliloquizing direct to audience on the nature of God and love and suffering. It’s a bold gambit and Stephen Bolton as Jack made the most of his monologue so, as the action got under way, we too were well on the way to being won over by his open-hearted questioning faith.
But what super-charges this production into a different realm altogether comes later when, at key moments, the muted mahogany walls transform to a hinter-world of Narnian fantasy, detailed down to the famous lamp-post. It’s a superb coup-de-theatre, resonating with the play’s questioning of whether and if so how such retreats into another world can be a sufficient solace for ‘real’ life’s misfortunes.
These high production values, fortified by well-judged lighting and sound, supported a cast whose performances wrung well-judged laughter along with emotion from the bitter sweet script. Stephen Bolton as Jack and Tammie Rhee as Joy had the lion’s share of the show and convinced throughout in conveying their unconventionally transatlantic courtship. Special mention for Gus Scott as Jack’s gruffly endearing brother ‘Warnie’ and Reuben Taverner’s scene stealing Douglas – but this was an ensemble effort and their collective deftness of touch saved the show from sliding into schmaltz. As Jeremy Payne's Professor Riley pronounces at the close: ‘she was a remarkable woman but I’m damned if I’m going to start liking her just because she’s dead’.
All credit then to director Adam Harris and his team for creating the light and shade by which this Shadowlands has been brought so brilliantly to the Hong Kong stage.
Shadowlands is playing at the HK Rep Blackbox through Saturday. For more information, click here.
Comments
K
Such a good show! Well done to the cast and crew! Get a ticket if you can.
30 May 2013Mark
Saw this last night. Funny and beautiful. Perfect theatre. A must see!
30 May 2013Sue
I cried my eyes out. Beautiful and moving. Stunning set. What music was that? I want a copy.
30 May 2013
I have watched Hong Kong for years and it just keeps getting better. Well done HK Players!Sue
Sorry, I meant watched Hong Kong theatre!
30 May 2013Annie
One of the best shows I've seen Adam do. Proves he's a really good director when he doesn't split his focus acting and directing at the same time.
31 May 2013