Most are familiar with the well-known works of C.S. Lewis. In addition to writing children’s classics like The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe he also authored works that delve into Heaven and Hell, the existence of humanity and our relation to the Creator. Think The Screwtape Letters.
“The Great Divorce” is another that has been described as Lewis “at his imaginative best,” according to the Dallas Morning News.
The Great Divorce starring Christa Scott-Reed,
Joel Rainwater and Michael Frederic.
A live theatrical performance of The Great Divorce will take place for one day only in Kansas City Saturday, Sept. 11, at 4 p.m. as part of the hit national tour. Tickets HERE.
Produced by Fellowship for Performing Arts, this acclaimed production shows is a mesmerizing fantasy about Heaven and Hell brought to life on stage with Lewis’ signature wit, amazing actors and dazzling, state-of-the-art projections.
Now, this updated and expanded version of the original production features four actors portraying 22 vivid characters. They take a strange bus trip from hell to the outskirts of heaven, where they are given an opportunity to stay or return to hell. The choice proves to be much harder than imagined. And it all takes place in 85 minutes!
The Great Divorce is a companion piece to FPA’s hit adaptation of Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters.
“In The Great Divorce, Lewis poses a most challenging question,” writes FPA Artistic Director Max McLean. “Are the gates of hell locked from the inside?”
Through the play Lewis responds, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in hell, choose it. The choice of every lost soul is ‘Better to reign in hell than serve in Heaven.’ There’s always something they’d rather have than joy.”
The Great Divorce is adapted for the stage by Max McLean (C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Convert, The Screwtape Letters) and directed by Christa Scott-Reed (FPA’s Shadowlands, A Man for All Seasons). Scenic design is by Kelly James Tighe (National Tour-Cats), costume design by Nicole Wee (New York-Storyville, Henry Hewes and Audelco nominations-Outstanding Costume Design), lighting design by Geoffrey D. Fishburn (National Tours-Dreamgirls, West Side Story), projection design by Rachael Cady (Cirque du Soleil-Wintuk), original music and sound design by John Gromada (Tony Nominee-The Trip to Bountiful), fight direction by Steve Rankin (Broadway-Carousel, Drama Desk Award Outstanding Fight Choreography) and casting by Carol Hanzel. Ken Denison is the Executive Producer. General Manager is Aruba Productions.
After a 20-month hiatus, Kansas City is the second stop of the 2021 national tour.
For additional tour cities, visit FPAtheatre.com.
A New York City-based production company founded by Artistic Director Max McLean, Fellowship for Performing Arts’ mission is to produce theatre and film from a Christian worldview that engages diverse audiences. In addition to its annual New York season where it has produced Paradise Lost, A Man for All Seasons, Shadowlands, C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Convert, The Great Divorce and Martin Luther on Trial at The Pearl Theatre and at Theatre Row, it tours in major performance venues nationwide and recently added a university tour that includes Columbia, Brown, Princeton, UC-Berkeley, UNC-Chapel Hill, UT-Austin, Duke, Vanderbilt, Penn and UVA, among others. FPA also will premiere its first film production this year – The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis.
–Metro Voice