

Shadowlands | West End
By William Nicholson
From 5 Feb 2026About Shadowlands | West End
We're delighted to announce the West End transfer of our acclaimed 2019 Festival season production of Shadowlands.
BAFTA, Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated actor Hugh Bonneville reprises his role as C.S. Lewis (author of The Chronicles of Narnia) whose orderly academic life as an Oxford don is upended by the arrival of the spirited American poet, Joy Davidman. What begins as a meeting of minds becomes an uplifting and powerful journey of love and the fragile beauty of life.
Based on the real events of Lewis's life, Shadowlands is written by William Nicholson and was adapted from his own BAFTA Award-winning TV movie. It soon became a West End smash-hit winning the Evening Standard Award for Best Play, followed by a triumphant Broadway transfer. In 1993 the play was adapted into a major feature film directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger, which subsequently won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film.
Rachel Kavanaugh directs this long overdue West End transfer which will play a strictly limited engagement at London’s Aldwych Theatre from 5 February - 9 May 2026.
A theatrical triumph
The i newspaper
Tremendous. Bonneville dazzles as C.S. Lewis in this divine revival
Guardian
Shadowlands is one of the latest CFT productions to transfer to the West End. See them here first - sign up to our mailing list or become a member to be the first to hear about the productions in our Festival and Winter seasons.


