SHADOWLANDS – REVIEW OF PLAY ABOUT C. S. LEWIS IN LONDON

Reviewed by James Karas

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) had a play written about him and it was produced on Broadway, in London’s West End and in many other places. Why?

He was a brilliant scholar at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and earned well-deserved fame as an expert on 16^th century English literature. Broadway? He wrote a series of children’s books like the Narnia Chronicles that were bestsellers. You may have seen some of them at the Shaw Festival and many other theatres. But a play about him in the West End? He wrote 30 books? He is described as a Christian apologist. Did religious dedication qualify him for a play?

The answer to all the above is probably N0 but in middle age, at 54, he met a woman eighteen years younger than him, they became friends and the relationship had enough material to produce Shadowlands, a poignant, lyrical, captivating, often funny play that is now showing at the Aldwych Theatre in London. A movie was made based on the play.

The woman was Joy Davidman (1915-1960), an irrepressible American widow and admirer of Lewis. She was a talented writer in her own right. He invited her to Oxford for a visit, and they were attracted to each other as friends, platonically of course because, I guess, it had never occurred to Lewis that sex between couples existed.

Hugh Bonneville as C. S. Lewis, Jeff Rawle as 
Major W. H. Lewis and Maggie Siff as Joy Davidman. 
Photo credit Johan Persson

Despite the antipathy (is that polite enough?) of Lewis’s stuffy colleagues, the friendship blossoms and Joy asked him to marry her. She only wanted him to become her husband so she can get British citizenship and, as Hamlet would say, not for country matters. They got married secretly in a civil ceremony (remember he is religious). Joy became ill with cancer and Lewis learned the pain of death and separation that will result if when friend dies. He decided to marry her in a religious ceremony, and they lived together, politely again, as man and wife. Her cancer went in remission, and they had several years of life together,

The play has some humorous moments, like when Joy meets Lewis’s colleagues and when they are getting married in the civil ceremony. Rings? Pause. There are no rings. The platonic friendship continued and the agony of illness and death overwhelm us. Of the many characters that appear, few make a significant impression except perhaps for Lewis’s brother, the decent Major W. H. Lewis (Jeff Rawle).

Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey fame plays Lewis with humane and scholarly bearing in a nice contrast to Maggie Siff’s down-to-earth Joy. The two carry the play with wonderful poise that entrances us with laughter and tears.

The set by Peter McKintosh features huge bookshelves at the back and sides of the stage that are largely dark. Director Rachel Kavanaugh prefers spotlights to lighting the entire stage for much of the production. Howard Harrison is the lighting Designer. More lights would have been preferable to reliance on spotlights and darkness.

Shadowlands is a wonderful play about the intellectual life of an Oxford University genius who meets a down-to-earth woman and the unlikeliest of relationships thanks to William Nicholson gives us a marvelous play.
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Shadowlands by William Nicholson continues until May 8, 2026, at the Aldwych Theatre, London, England. https://www.shadowlandsplay.com

James Karas is the Cultured Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto

 

  

“OH, MARY!” – REVIEW OF FARCE ABOUT MRS. ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN LONDON

Reviewed by James Karas 

“OH, MARY!” by Cole Escola is ostensibly a play about Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of the great president. It has nothing to do with her life but instead is an overrated farce that relies on grotesque and non-stop overacting. It is now playing at the Trafalgar Theatre in London.

Mary (Mason Alexander Park - yes she is played by a man ) bursts onto the stage, clearly deranged and frantically looking for her bottle of booze. She  screams and screeches and is out of her mind. Her long skirt flies above her knees showing that she is wearing polka dot underwear. We will see them many times.

Lincoln appears and tells her that there is a war on and the country is fighting the south. “The south what? asks Mary. It is a decent line that does not bear repeating but it is repeated. Everyone overacts to the point of being tiresome and humour the is forced to the limit.

An officer described as Mary’s husband’s assistant in the program (Oliver Stockley) bends over in front of Lincoln and the latter is ready to hump him. A bit later we will see Lincoln invoking his deity and his assistant will  emerge from under  his desk and we know exactly what he was doing. He tells us about sperm to make sure we know that he  was fellate the president.

Oliver Stockley, Katie O'Donnell, Mason Alexander Park. 

Photo: Manuel Harlan 

Mary’s Chaperone (Kate O’Donnell) has a secret that she does not want to disclose to her. Well, she does and it’s about a scoop of ice cream that fell on her lap and you can guess the precise location and the pleasure it provided.

Mary wants to be a cabaret singer for which she has no talent. Lincoln hires a tutor to teach her to become an actor. His intention is to keep her away from the bottle and his choice is a second-rate actor called John Wilkes Booth (Dino Fetscher). Yes, that one. 

In a note in the program, author Escola and director Sam Pinkleton explain that they took a “seemingly stupid idea” about Mary Lincoln wanting to become a cabaret star and treat it with “the utmost care and sincerity” and bombard us with jokes and plot twists and leave us surprised. What we get is overdone farce, repeated jokes that  are not funny and, I say it again, overacting that I cannot believe is allowed in the West End and presumably did well on Broadway.

Except for a scene in a theatre where Lincoln is assassinated by Mary (surprise) with Booth and a cabaret where Mary sings shortly after the assignation, the set design by dots shows a desk and a sofa. The gaudy costumes for Mary and her chaperone are by Holly Pierson.

A comment about audience reaction is necessary. Although many of us sat in stunned silence watching this unbelievable production, most people found it hilarious. The raunchy bits were greeted with howls of laughter and the reaction at curtain call was enthusiastic.

Which brings us to the conclusion that there is no accounting for public taste.

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“OH, MARY!” by Cole Escola, directed by Sam Pinkleton continues at the Trafalgar Theatre, 14 Whitehall, London. www.trafalgartheatre.com

JAMES KARAS IS THE CULTURE EDITOR OF THE GREEKK PRESS, TORONTO

THE TEMPEST – REVIEW OF 2026 PRODUCTION AT SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE IN LONDON

Reviewed by James Karas 

The small Sam Wanamaker Playhouse keeps Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre active during the winter months. I caught Tim Crouch’s production of The Tempest. Crouch as the star and director has tailored the production it his ideas and has made it suitable for the very small stage and tight quarters of the playhouse in general. There is no thunder or lightning and no wild storms but a very good presentation of the text within those limitations.

Crouch plays the deposed Duke of Milan as the conqueror of the island where he brought civilization to the natives of whom we meet only two. The first is the spirit Ariel (Naomi Wirthner) who is his faithful servant but wants to be set free. The other is the wild and not quite civilized Caliban (normally played by Faizal Abdullah) who is more resentful than thankful even though Prospero reminds him that he has taught him to read.

He raised his lovely daughter Miranda (Sophie Steer) on the island and she has seen no other people until she meets the hunk Ferdinand (Joshual Griffin) and you don’t need me to tell you the rest.

This Prospero is gentler than imperialistic and although he became a magician thanks to the books that he brought with him in the end he throws them away and is ready to return to his Dukedom in Milan. Crouch both as director and star handles the play with gentility and may help us to understand his temporary imperialism because of the circumstances. 

Joshua Griffin as Ferdinand, Naomi Wirthner as Ariel, 

Tim Crouch as Prospero and Sophie Steer as Miranda in The Tempest 

c. Marc Brenner

Antonio, the brother that deposed and exiled Prospero becomes his sister Antonia (Amanda Hadibque), and we have no difficulty accepting her as such. Wirthner, who plays Ariel, has a conspicuously displayed artificial leg and is somewhat overweight. Blind casting is de rigueur and we have no right to complain or comment about it provided the performance is sound. Can you have a spirit like Ariel with such severe limitations? I think it takes guts to cast someone like Wirthner and kudos to Crouch for doing it.

Caliban was read script in hand by Finn O’Riordan replacing the indisposed Faizal Abdullah. The theatre does not have understudies and O’Riordan did a commendable job in the role.

Caliban is in the hilarious scenes with Trinculo (Merce Ribot)  and Stephano (Patricia Rodriguez) as they plot to kill Prospero and take over the island. I think we lost some humour without the original actor playing Caliban and leaving the other clowns doing the scenes with one hand tied behind their backs, so to speak.

Crouch has an attraction to candles and we saw the cast holding them, moving them around, blowing them and lighting them.

The costumes looked like “whatever you wore when you came to work, will do” and they did not bother me at all. This looked like an intimate production and costumes may have been superfluous.

This is a very attractive and intimate production worthwhile seeing for many reasons.
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The Tempest  by William Shakespeare continues until April 12, 2026, at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, 21 New Globe Walk, London. www.shakespearesglobe.com

James Karas is Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto

BROKEN GLASS – REVIEW OF ARTHUR MILLER’S PLAY AT YOUNG VIC, LONDON

Reviewed by James Karas

Broken Glass is a 1993 play by Arthur Miller that is rarely produced. It is a gripping drama about being Jewish that receives a stunning production by the Young Vic Theatre. Miller was a Jew but he never dealt with Jewishness as directly and as powerfully as he did in Broken Glass.

Phillip Gellburg (Eli Gelb) is a Jew in New York in 1938 when the Nazis are in full control of Germany and have just achieved a friendly takeover of Austria. His relationship with his Jewishness is complex. His wife Sylvia (Pearl Chanda) is obsessed with the treatment of Jews in Germany, especially the image of Jews being forced to scrub streets with toothbrushes while being ridiculed by other Germans. But her husband is not sure about his support of Jewish refugees. His job is enforcing mortgages.

Sylvia becomes paralyzed from the waist down and there is no physical explanation for her condition. Dr. Hyman (Alex Waldmann) can find no explanation for her condition, and he digs into the relationship of the Gellburgs and tries to find the emotional act that triggered paralysis.

Sylvia’s sister Harriet (Juliet Cowan) is a sympathetic character and listens to her sibling, Margaret (Nancy Carroll) is Dr. Hyman’s exuberant and slightly wacky wife.

Stanton Case (Nigel Whitmey) is Phillip’s employer and a highly successful Jew who is interested in business and his accomplishments as a Jew. We have a balanced cast for the unfolding drama that combines the personal relationships among the main characters and the larger subject of Jewish identity in a world of antisemitism.

 A Scene from Broken Glass at the Young Vic Theatre, London

The catalyst for the plot development is Dr. Hyman who is attracted to Sylvia but dedicated to finding the deep-rooted secret to her condition. Phillip’s complex relationship with Sylvia unfolds slowly and dramatically. Phillip’s relationship with his employer develops into an explosive situation. Director Jordan Fein keeps a tight grip on the many strands of the drama to the final bitter end. There is no solution and the fine-tuned drama, done staggeringly well, has an ambiguous end.

The acting is outstanding. Gelb gives a superb performance as the confused and mendacious Phillip who has many issues to resolve. Chanda as Sylvia, is equally unable to come to grips with reality. She has our sympathy, but it takes a long time to understand her. Marvelous work. Dr. Hyman presents us with issues of medical ethics, but we do not doubt his desire to dig into the lives of people until he can find a solution. A sympathetic character done exceptionally well by Waldmann.

Carroll, Cowan and Whitmey carry the secondary roles with ability and aplomb.  

The production is done in a theatre-in-the-round on a single set. The play is set in the office of Dr. Hyman, the Gellburg bedroom and the office of Stanton Case. Set Designer Rosanna Vize has created a single set for the entire play. The large playing area is surrounded by couches laden with hundreds of newspapers. This is what Sylvia is reading as she obsesses about the fate of the Jews in Germany. A part of the stage is used for Hyman’s and Stanton’s offices. In one end of the stage there is glass window and we see Sylvia and her sister behind that glass in the opening scene with Phillip and Dr. Hyman. The characters are on stage most of the time. A great touch of staging.

The costumes designed by Sussie Juhlin-Wallen emphasize Phillip’s obsession with wearing a three-piece black suit and Sylvia’s attractive physique. The other characters wear suitable 1930’s attire.

The lighting by Adam Silverman provides a brilliantly lit stage for the office scenes and subtle and alluring tones for the bedroom scenes.

Broken Glass may not rank with Death of a Salesman and All My Sons (what does?) but I found it a riveting play and express my surprise that it is almost completely ignored from the Arthur Miller canon of productions.
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Broken Glass by Arthur Miller in a co-production by Young Vic, Soto Productions and Rachel Sussman, Brian & Dayna Lee continues until April 18, 2026 at the Young Vic Theatre, 66 The Cut, Southwark, London. youngvic.org/

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto

QUEEN MAEVE - REVIEW OF 2026 PRODUCTION AT TARRAGON THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas

Judith Thompson is back at 71 with a captivating new play called Queen Maeve that is now playing at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. The ads show a determined woman of a certain age holding a large sword and probably stabbing someone. In case your knowledge of Irish mythology is sparse, you should know that Maeve is described by one source asstrong-willed, ambitious, cunning, promiscuous, and an archetypal warrior queen.

The play’s main character is Mrs. Nurmi (Clare Coulter), an elderly woman in a nursing home in Cornwall. She is crotchety, impatient and demanding. She has some mobility problems but that has not affected her ability to express herself. To put it colloquially, she is a tough cookie. And oh yes, do not call her Mrs. Nurmi. She is Queen Maeve.

Queen Maeve/Mrs. Nurmi is looked after by Siobhan (Caroline Gillis), a caregiver of extraordinary ability, common sense, patience and forbearance. Gillis plays the role wonderfully.

Queen Maeve is Mrs. Nurmi's alternate and of course imaginary personality. She is visited by her grandson Jake (Ryan Bommarito) who travels by bus from Sudbury. Mrs. Nurmi shows genuine affection for her grandson. He wants money from her to do podcasts about the stars. She becomes suspicious that her grandson wants the money for drugs and becomes Queen Maeve. She takes her sword to fight him off. 

Sarah Orenstein and Clare Coulter in Queen Maeve

Her daughter Georgia (Sarah Orenstein) visits after many years of separation. I am not sure what grievances the mother and daughter have against each other but Mrs. Nurmi or is it Queen Maeve considers her daughter’s conduct unforgiveable. There seems to be no room for forgiveness or reconciliation or understanding.

Mrs. Nurmi shows anger and obstreperous behavior even against the kindly and basically wonderful Siobhan, so we have some difficulty appreciating her unforgiving conduct towards he grandson and daughter. We can understand her refusal to give money to Jake when she knows he will spend it on drugs.

Thompson does not provide enough details about Mrs. Nurmi’s behavior and her taking the personality of a mythical queen may be more than just quirky conduct. Alone and perhaps horribly lonely even with Siobhan as her caregiver may have had more serious effects on her than we can imagine. There is a secret to Mrs. Nurmi’s conduct but what is it?

The questions that we may want to consider are whether Mrs. Nurmi was visited by anyone at all or are they like Queen Maeve figments of her imagination. Is that the mystery at the

heart of Thompson’s play? There is no resolution that I could discern at the end of the play.

The acting is superb with Coulter doing an outstanding job. She is on stage during the entire performance and deserves kudos for perseverance, subtlety and stunning work. Bommarito does excellent work as the desperate conniving grandson who tries to extort money from his grandmother when she knows that he is on drugs. Orenstein gives a praiseworthy performance as a daughter who cannot get an ounce of forgiveness from her mother.

With a tough woman who thinks she is Queen Maeve and her visitors, we cover a lot of territory but there is a mystery at its core, and I have several guesses whirling in my mind, but I will keep them to myself. Go see the play and make up your mind about it.

The set by Ken MacDonald consists of a simple room in a nursing home with an ordinary bed and some furnishings. The presence of Siobhan as caregiver makes it look fine but Mrs. Nurmi’s behavior gives one the chills.

The penultimate bow goes to Mike Payette for his fine and careful directing. The final bow and standing ovation go to Judith Thompson. Don’t stop. We need more plays from you.

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Queen Maeve by Judith Thompson in a Tarragon Theater production continues until  March 29, 2026, at the Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave. Toronto, Ontario.  www.tarragontheatre.com

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto

A MIRROR - REVIEW OF 2026 ARC PRODUCTION AT 918 BATHURST THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas 

When you walked into 918 Bathurst St. Toronto to see Sam Holcroft’s play A Mirror, you are given a nicely printed white card stating, “Welcome TO THE WEDDING OF LEYLA AND JOEL.” Leyla (Jonelle Gunderson), the bride, walks down the aisle solemnly and joins the groom Joel (Paul Smith). The Registrar (Nabil Traboulsi) begins the wedding ceremony and the bride and groom exchange vows and we read THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE written on the back of the Welcome card. It is not exactly a familiar wedding but we take it for what it is.

The Best Man (Craig Lauzon) interrupts the proceeding to announce that this is a sham wedding and is in fact the performance of a play without a license. He invites people who feel uncomfortable to leave the theatre. One person does.

To quote Dorothy, we are certainly not in Kansas or any part of the civilized world. The Oath of Allegiance makes it clear that we are in a totalitarian police state. The transition away from Kansas is sudden and without explanation but then we get to the beginning of the play.

The bride becomes Mei, a  diffident secretary in the ministry of culture. The groom becomes Adem Nariman, an aspiring playwright who has submitted a play to Celik (Traboulsi) for approval and production. The wedding party has become the office of a totalitarian police state. We have a transition from the sham wedding to the office  of Celik in the ministry of culture. What happened to the actors who were putting on an unlicensed play? What play were they putting on?  

Celik in the same three-piece suit and black gloves that he wore as the wedding Registrar has turned into an officious and frightful commissar. Adem has been hauled in for a play that he has submitted for approval not for performing anything. And Mei works for the ministry. This is confusing.

Jonelle Gunderson, Nabil Traboulsi and Paul Smith, 

Photo: Kendra Epik - ARC

Celik as the tough censor has a lot to say to Adem about what he considers as appropriate for the stage and wants him to write something optimistic and not something depressing. The state does not want people to be exposed to certain things.

Adem is defending his writing as realistic and objects to Celik’s censorship. The playwright is a brave cog in the bureaucratic wheel but he is put under pressure to comply and compromise in order to survive.

Holcroft deals with the repressive state with dramatic effects and director Tamara Vuckovic and the cast bring out the horrors and abuses of totalitarianism. At times it feels heavy-handed, familiar and perhaps repetitive but it is all there.

Vuckovic tries to be helpful with the following comments in the program:

What’s so gripping about Sam Holcroft’s A Mirror is its architecture. The

mirrored structure isn’t a stylistic flourish—it is the engine of the play.

Scenes return, reframed, and suddenly what we thought we understood

begins to shift beneath our feet. Instead of inviting the audience to watch

a story about perception—they experience their own perceptions being

challenged in real time. Questions of censorship, authorship, identity, and

the fragile boundary between fiction and reality are embedded directly in

how the story unfolds.

What I thought I understood may have shifted beneath my feet but I probably did not understand in the first place. I did not feel my perception challenged and the boundary between fiction and reality seemed all too real to be considered fragile.

A Mirror was presented at 918 Bathurst St. Toronto which looks like a former church that has  been converted into a performing arts center. There is a raised platform which may have been an altar or a pulpit but serves just as well as a stage. The set by Nick Blais features sheaths of flowing white curtain material with a few chairs and other furniture the emphasis being on white.

I should add that near the end someone appears to remove Celik. He is a Celik look-alike but there is insufficient explanation to diffuse the confusion created in the two hours’ duration of A Mirror. A disappointment.
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A Mirror  by Sam Holdcroft in a production by ARC will run until March 28, 2026, at 918 Bathurst, 918 Bathurst St. Toronto Ontario. arcstage.com

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto

SHUCKED – REVIEW OF 2026 PRODUCTION AT THE PRINCESS OF WALES THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas

The first and last time I heard the word corn in a song was in South Pacific when Mary Martin sang I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy  and gleefully intoned “I am as corny as Kansas in August.” It has been a long coffee break but Shucked, the musical now playing at the Princess of Wales Theatre more than makes up for the lapse of time. In fact, it is all corn, corny, corn pone and well, OK there is no popcorn. Shucked is a fable about a town in Corn County that relies on corn for everything until it stops growing.

It is a love story and a wonderful tale about a community meeting hardship and working itself out of it. The plot is replete with jokes that I will reprise to the best of my memory in bold letters.

If a paper airplane does not fly, it becomes stationery.

We are in a mythical town where people live happily, speak with a southern accent, grow corn and the town beauty Maizy (Danielle Made) and the hunk Beau (Nick Bailey) are planning to get married. But we have a crisis. The corn no longer grows. We start the musical with the song “Corn” sung by Story Tellers 1 and 2 (Maya Lagerstam and Joe Moeller) and the ensemble. Put the wedding on hold. We have complications and more than two hours to kill before we get to that.

If the world was nice, mosquitoes would be sucking fat instead of blood.

The-Cast of The North American Tour of SHUCKED 
(Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

The brave Maizy goes to Tampa, the big city, in search of a solution and she meets another hunk, Gordy (Quinn Vanantwrp). He is a podiatrist who presents himself as a corn doctor and has some unsavory traits but she overlooks them. Gordy comes to the Corn County to solve the corn crisis and check out Lulu (a hilarious Miki Abraham) who has Time and Money and  a few other things to offer. He is interested in all of them and does not feel beholden to lovely Maizy to whom he proposed marriage. OK, he is a conman.

If you put sugar on bullshit, it does not become a brownie. Now you tell me!

We have wise Grandpa (Elijah Caldwell), Peanut (Mike Nappi) and Tank (Kyle Sherman) who round off the denizens of the town together with the ensemble. They make up a wonderful community that deliver the “wonderful” jokes that belong to Corn County with panache.  

It’s like telling someone to go to hell and the hoping he has a safe trip.

The plot takes us through the gamut of complications accompanied by easy-to-take tunes like “Travellin’ Song”, to “Woman of the World” to “Maybe Love” to “Corn” more than once. They are lovely songs that are sung more than competently without making huge demands on the singers. There are a few flourishes but its largely Corny and reminiscent of the 1970’s TV show Hee Haw.

The horse was 20 to 1 to win. Yeah, but the other horses came in at 12:30.

The scenic design by Scott Pask looks like the skeleton of a huge barn with lots of barrels (full of whiskey) rolled around. The costumes by Tilly Grimes are Texas cornpone  

Politicians are like diapers; they have to be changed frequently and for the same reason.

The musical is by Robert Horn (book), Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally (music and Lyrics) and the wonder is that they created something unlike most musicals that come from Broadway. Veteran Director Jack O’Brien handles the details of the production with Choreographer Sarah O’Gleby taking care of the dances.

I may not have my virginity but I still have the box it came in.

I repeat, it’s a simple fable with a love story and a wonderful community that faces a crisis with forbearance and humour to the delight of all.  
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Shucked by Robert Horn (book) and Brandy Clark and Shane McNally (music and lyrics continues until April 5, 2026  at the Princess of Wales Theatre, 300 King St. West, Toronto, Ontario. www.mirvish.com

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto.