Five years ago today, I landed in New Zealand for my second visit to this magical land that I fell in love with (as many of us did) watching Peter Jackson's
The Lord of the Rings trilogy. A story that I first encountered when my aunt gave me
The Hobbit for my 12th birthday. For nearly 40 years I have continued to read and re-read J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece, finding new inspiration in it every time. Open Window Theatre was scheduled to produce the U.S. premiere of
Tolkien, by Canadian playwright Ron Reed, shortly after my return from New Zealand in the spring of 2020. We know how that story goes, but happily, they are finally bringing this beautiful story of Tolkien and his friendship with C.S. Lewis to their intimate stage. It's a must-see for fans of Tolkien and/or Lewis, but even if you've never read
The Lord of the Rings or
The Chronicles of Narnia, you still might enjoy this play about friendship, faith, loss, literature, myth, and inspiration.
Tolkien plays weekends through the end of March at Open Window Theatre in Inver Grove Heights.
Curiously, this is the third play I've seen about C.S. Lewis (
Shadowlands at the Guthrie pre-blog in 2008, about his relationship with his wife and their brief marriage before her death from cancer, and the excellent two-hander
Freud's Last Session Off-Broadway and at the Guthrie), but the first about
J.R.R. Tolkien. The play covers a few decades between when Tollers and Jack, as they were known to their friends, met at Oxford in the '30s, and Jack's death in 1963. Along with some other writer friends, they formed a group called the Inklings in which they discussed literature and shared some of their writing. Much of the play consists of discussions between Tolkien and Lewis, about their work, about war (both served in WWI and were greatly affected by it), and about religion. Lewis was an atheist when he met Catholic Tolkien, and gradually came to the Christian faith through their discussions and his own reading and exploring, his transformation the focus of much of the first act. The very real and deep friendship is evident in the play, although it did not always run smoothly. They disagreed and even became estranged for long periods, but the influence on each other's lives and work is undeniable. The play is really much more interesting and engaging than I'm making it sound, especially if you enjoy discussions about philosophy, religion, and mythology, with plentiful references to the creatures and places of Middle Earth.
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Jack (Caleb Cabiness) and Tollers (Shad Cooper)
(photo by Up North Creative) |
Joe Hendren directs the play, making good use of the multiple areas for staging, with mostly smooth and quick transitions between scenes, accompanied by well-chosen music (some of which, if it's not from the
LOTR soundtrack, sounds like it could be). The play is a bit long; the preview I saw was just over three hours including intermission. It's supposed to be a bit under three hours, so it will likely tighten up a bit as the run continues. And while there are some scenes that could be edited or tightened, for the most part it doesn't feel long, and kept my attention despite keeping me up way past my bedtime. So take a nap, have a coffee, or see a matinee - spending three hours in the world of Tolkien isn't such a bad thing (it's shorter than any of the movies!).
The strong seven-person cast is led by Shad Cooper as Tolkien, a really wonderful performance that feels real and grounded, showing us all the complexities of the man behind the stories. He's well matched in Caleb Cabiness as Lewis, with a palpable feeling of friendship between them. Also great are Shana Eisenberg, making the most of the underwritten role of Tolkien's loyal wife; Corey DiNardo as a friend of Lewis' who threatens to come between the two men; Ian Hardy providing some comic relief as Lewis' brother; Keith Prusak as another member of the Inklings; and Rob Ward as a Spaniard who throws another wrench into the friendship.
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Lewis (Caleb Cabiness), Lewis (Ian Hardy), and Tolkien
(Shad Cooper, photo by Up North Creative) |
The set looks very much like how one would imagine Oxford in the mid 20th Century, with dark wood and rich greens and old books everywhere. The backdrop has 2-D paintings of bookshelves, along with some real shelves with glasses, bottles, and other props, and the space is populated with gorgeous period furniture. Each author has a desk on either side of the stage, a bench on one end represents the outdoors, a table on the other can be the Tolkien family dining room table or a pub. Lighting helps set the tone and tells us where to look, with occasional projections of falling leaves or snow. The subtle sound design includes background noise of the pub or the outdoors. Completing the look are the period costumes - appropriately professorial with tweed jackets, sweater vests, elbow pads, and hats. (Set design by Robin McIntyre, lighting and projection design by Alex Clark, props design by Nate Farley, sound design by Jeremy Standbary and Joe Hendren, and costume design by MaryBeth Schmid.)
It's always fun to learn more about the artists behind the work that we love, and Tolkien illuminates the brilliantly creative author of some of the best-selling and most beloved books of the 20th Century. But it also shows us the very real and sometimes flawed human, his relationships with other humans, and the real-life inspiration for some of his work.
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my visit to Bag End, Hobbiton, the Shire, New Zealand
Leap Day 2020 |
