Renowned Chronicles of Narnia author Clive Staples Lewis, better known as C.S. Lewis, once argued that stories can stimulate the marvelous and supernatural, leading to newfound revelations of truth.
Grappling with the novelty of such an experience, actor and playwright Max McLean embodies the late C.S. Lewis in his latest theatrical performance, Further Up & Further In.
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Born in 1898 in Ireland, Lewis became a literary scholar and held academic positions at both Oxford University and Cambridge University. He lived until 1963.
The 90-minute play that is directed by Ken Denison features only McLean as he welcomes the audience into Lewis’s study, which is designed by Kelly Tighe and sports only a desk, armchair, and a dresser, to go further up and further into the person and faith of Lewis.
“I can’t think of any play that we’ve done that has touched people as deep in their response to it,” McLean told the Washington Examiner. “When you dig deep with Lewis, you’re digging super deep.”
Further Up & Further In follows The Most Reluctant Convert, which was also written and performed by McLean. It looked at the conversion of Lewis.
While exploring Lewis’s arguments for the divinity of Christ in Further Up & Further In, the audience is moved by the author’s own words that wrestle with the purpose of life’s hardships and how they point toward heaven.
McLean causes one to contemplate Lewis’s reasoning for how to find truth. Additionally, he brings the audience to laughter over an inside look at Lewis’s wit.
“There’s always challenges with Lewis because he’s so erudite and he takes you a little further up and further in than you’re prepared for, so the job of the dramatist is to bring that to a level that people get immediately,” McLean said.
McLean’s promise that the play would provide audiences with a lot of “aha moments” proves to be true, even for one who is familiar with Lewis’s writings.
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The Fellowship for Performing Arts play features John Gromada’s rousing original score and the powerful images of Harry Feiner, which are projected as backdrops to move the audience emotionally and geographically in connection with different locales and events referenced throughout the play.
As Further Up & Further In wraps up its performances in Washington, D.C., on June 18, it will travel for additional tour stops in Missouri, Michigan, Colorado, and California throughout June and July.
