Hugh Bonneville is playing ‘Narnia’ author C. S. Lewis on stage this spring

Downton Abbey fans can see Hugh Bonneville tread the boards this spring in Shadowlands.

Written by William Nicholson, the play tells the story of British writer C.S. Lewis, who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia books.

Shadowlands was first performed in the West End in 1989, going on to become a television drama in 1985 and a feature film starring Anthony Hopkins in 1993.

Bonneville will star as C. S. Lewis in a new production at Chichester Festival Theatre in West Sussex, England from
26th April to 25th May.

Here’s an interview with the Downton Abbey actor about his latest role:

The official synopsis for Shadowlands reads: “Celebrated writer C.S. Lewis splits his time between an ordered domestic routine at home with his brother, Warnie, and the academic rigour of his dispassionate, all-male Oxford college.

“His evenings are spent replying to his many correspondents. One stands out: vivid, expressive, New York poet Joy Gresham.

“When she arrives in England with her young son, Douglas, everything Lewis believed to be true about life and love is thrown into question. And a relationship begins which will take them both to the extremities of pain and joy.”

Life on Mars actress Liz White is playing Joy Gresham.

Hugh Bonneville will be reprising his role as Robert Crawley in the Downton Abbey movie, in cinemas this September.

It was announced last year that Netflix is adapting all seven of C. S. Lewis’s Narnia books.

Downton Abbey: The Complete Collection DVD box set is available on Amazon.