Appendix 33
“Student brings his adaptation of C.S. Lewis book to WWC stage”
Walla
Walla Union Bulletin,
May 9, 2001
by Aydrea
Walden
SUMMARY: A Walla Walla College
student will see his play based on C.S. Lewis’ “The
Great Divorce” debuted Saturday.
--------------------------------------
Shimmering
spirits and translucent ghosts debate the merits of their earthly life and the
fundamentals of heaven and hell.
Bradley
Nelson brings the characters to life with his adaptation of the C.S. Lewis’
book, “The Great Divorce.”
Lewis
wrote the book in 1945 in response to William Blake’s book, “The Marriage
of Heaven and Hell.” Blake said the roads of life are like the radii of a
circle — that they all eventually lead to the center, or God. This theory
says that evil will eventually transform into good.
Lewis
wanted to prove this wrong. In his book, he uses himself as a traveler
journeying through heaven and hell.
In
heaven, people are solid and colors are bright. In hell, people as [sic]
phantoms whose weight can’t even make an impression on the grass.
The
imagery piqued Nelson’s interest and inspired his writing of the play.
“It’s
going to be a multimedia experience,” he said.
The
set is white, with the three stage walls making three screens where hell’s
characters are projected.
Nelson
said there was such a distinction between the characters in Lewis’ book that
he wanted to make a “visual metaphor on stage.”
Nelson
and director Marilynn Loveless filmed the actors in front of a blue screen[,]
then filled the backgrounds with
trees, brightly colored flowers and at one point, unicorns.
With
some editing, the human characters appear to fade in and out of their
backgrounds, timed with action on the stage.
Nelson
has gone through four major script revisions since starting the project.
The
first changes came at the behest of the C.S. Lewis Foundation in England.
Nelson had to contact the estate to get an adaptation license.
“They
were just trying to make sure I stayed true to the book itself,” he said.
Loveless,
who has worked with Nelson from the first draft, said the student playwright
held his ground with some of the changes, willing to compromise, but wanting
to make his point.
“He’d
argue with them,” she said.
Other
versions are the result of Lewis’ highbrow language.
“When
Lewis writes, he writes very richly and intellectually,” Nelson said.
“Some of (the change) is just making sure the dialogue is accessible to
everyone.”
Nelson
said he tried to keep the core messages in the script while discarding some of
the complicated philosophy.
In
all, it took more than 50 people to produce the show, including a cast of 28
students.
“This
whole thing is very much a collaborative process. The only thing I can really
claim is the script itself,” Nelson said. “And even that is collaborating
with C.S. Lewis.”
