'Shadowlands'

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Find out in this weeks
eIN Entertainment section.

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Sherman has surrounded
The play is about Lewis' awak-
ometimes you walk into the
Beer
and VanFossen with a fine
ening
—
sexual,
passionate,
pa-
theater and discover some-
thing so fresh, so new, it's ternal— and how the Jewess from supporting cast. Two who stand
like an archeological find. "Noo Yawk" becomes his docent of out are Bruce Burkhartsmeier
That is the case with Meadow the emotions. She teaches his as Christopher Riley, the in-
heart to speak and how to recog- house cynic and elegant boor.
Brook's splendid Shadowlands.
Burkhartsmeier plays him for
Geoffrey Sherman, the director, nize pain.
Yes, we recognize Love Story, restrained comic effect while
has chosen a direct, stately ap-
and others of that ilk. able, still, to show his feelings in
proach to William Nichol-
What sets Shadow- two brief moments that speak
son's play about the
lands aside is the ele- without words. As Warnie, the
real-life romance of Eng-
gance of language, the too-good-to-be-true brother of
lish writer-philosopher
commodity of words by Lewis, Richard Thomsen simply
C.S. Lewis and Joy David-
which thought and exists as the quintessential pipe-
man, the brash, Jewish-
feeling are presented. smoking bachelor of a certain
American woman who
Sheiman keeps that age. If the type didn't exist,
dies too early.
crisp focus; it is a beau- Thomsen's performance would
MIC HAEL H.
On a vividly realized set
MA RGOLIN
tifully spoken produc- invent it.
(by Peter W. Hicks), book-
All else is very, very solid in
SPECI AL TO THE
tion.
cases line each side wall,
JEW' SH NEWS
Sherman's production:
And his actors
like prison bars around
the music during and
make it so. Arthur
C.S. Lewis' cloistered aca-
THEATER
between scenes (and
demic life with his fellow dons (it's J. Beer's Lewis gives a brave
carried through inter-
Omford, England). And then they performance — naked to the
become the embracing arms of audience in his arrogance, then mission), the perfectly realized
Lewis and Davidman's mutual, his vulnerability, then grief. Not light design by Paul Wonsek
first attraction to each other — a false note. Is there a medal of which makes you aware of the
their love of language and poetry. honor for truthfulness in acting? nuances of each scene, and the
good costumes by Barbara Jenks
Two sliding scrims of delicate pas- Give it to Beer.
As Joy Davidman, Diana Van- (though poor C.S. Lewis and the
tels, sometimes shielding, some-
times faintly revealing upstage Fossen is, at first, flat-footed. Do other dons must wear the same
rooms, slide easily, parting at the Americans sound that ugly — a outfit — for several years and sea-
cross between a whine and a post- sons — in the play; a shame to
middle.
At play's beginning, Lewis, in nasal drip? But, she grows on us scrimp on the budget there).
Shadowlands breathes like a
his best lecturer style, tells the au- and Lewis. We get to know her
fine
wine as it is first uncorked;
and,
like
Lewis,
love
her,
in
the
dience that this life is a shadow,
that the afterlife is the real world theatrical tradition of abrasive it gets even better as the evening
and pain is "God's megaphone to women, ending up adored — like progresses. It is an exhilarating
waken the deaf world." The mes- the prostitute in The Owl and the taste.
sage becomes loud and clear in just Pussycat or Gittel in Two for the
Seesaw.
over two hours.

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61-IADOWLAND6

By William Nicholson

A story of love against all odds, based on
the life of author C. S. Lewis.

MARCH 13 - APRIL 7

CID

LU

"Brilliant, engrossing and entertaining" — New York Post

"Reminds us of the wonder of everyday life" — USA Today

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CD
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Supported
by the

LLI

UJ

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92

michigan council
for arts and
cultural affairs

Meadow
Brook
Theatre

Oakland University's
Professional Theatre

For tickets call

Meadow Brook
Box Office

(810) 377-3300

Ticketmaster
(810) 645-6666

Hudson's,
Harmony House and
Blockbuster Music

Arthur J. Beer and Diana VanFossen perform the true, tragic love story of C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman in Shadowlands,
running at Meadow Brook through April 7.

