Shadowlands (play)

Shadowlands
Written by	William Nicholson
Date premiered	1989
Place premiered	Queen's Theatre, London
Original language	English
Subject	Biographical
Genre	Drama

Shadowlands is a 1989 stage play, based on the 1985 television film of the same name, written by William Nicholson. The 1985 film was directed by Norman Stone and produced by David M. Thompson for BBC Wales. The play is about the relationship between Oxford don and author, C. S. Lewis and the American writer Joy Gresham. The play premiered on Broadway in 1990 and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.

The 1985 television film was adapted as a stage play and then as a cinema film. The television film began life as a script entitled I Call it Joy written for Thames Television by Brian Sibley and Norman Stone. Sibley was credited on the BBC film as "consultant" and went on to write the book, Shadowlands: The True Story of C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman.

The story follows Lewis as he meets an American fan, Joy Gresham, whom he befriends and eventually marries. The story also deals with his struggle with personal pain and grief: Lewis preaches that one should endure suffering with patience, but finds that the simple answers he had preached no longer apply when Joy becomes afflicted with cancer and eventually dies.

The original television film starred Joss Ackland as Lewis, with Claire Bloom as his wife Joy Gresham. It won BAFTA Awards in 1986 for Best Play and Best Actress (Bloom).

It was subsequently adapted for the stage, opening at the Queen's Theatre in London on 23 October 1989, running until 8 September 1990. The stage version and subsequent movie gave Joy Davidman only one stepson instead of two. The production was directed by Elijah Moshinsky and starred Nigel Hawthorne as Lewis with Jane Lapotaire as Joy. It won Best Play in the Evening Standard Awards for 1990. Lapotaire was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her stage performance.

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