Shadowlands

Absolute are returning to the Chichester Festival providing the automation equipment for Shadowlands by William Nicholson.

The production is directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and runs from 26 April – 25 May.

Celebrated writer C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, splits his time between an ordered domestic routine at home with his brother, Warnie, and the academic rigour of his dispassionate, all-male Oxford college.

His evenings are spent replying to his many correspondents. One stands out: vivid, expressive, New York poet Joy Gresham. When she arrives in England with her young son, Douglas, everything Lewis believed to be true about life and love is thrown into question. And a relationship begins which will take them both to the extremities of pain and joy.

William Nicholson’s much-loved play premiered in the West End in 1989, winning the Evening Standard Award for Best Play and being nominated for a Tony Award on its subsequent Broadway run. Originally a 1985 television drama, it became a feature film in 1993.

Shadowlands will be designed by Peter McKintosh, with lighting by Howard Harrison, music by Catherine Jayes and sound by Fergus O’Hare.