Hugh Bonneville is heading back to the West End! The Downton Abbey star will be reprising his critically acclaimed role of C.S. Lewis in Shadowlands when the Chichester Festival Theatre hit transfers to the Aldwych Theatre next year! After a seven year wait, the renowned play will run from 5th February 2026 for a strict 11-week period.
William Nicholson’s play tells the moving love story between Lewis, the Oxford don and creator of The Chronicles of Narnia, and American poet Joy Davidman. It’s a tender, witty and devastating tale of a man of faith whose world is upended by love and grief. At Chichester, audiences and critics were swept away, hailing it “entertaining, funny, deeply touching,” while The Guardian praised Bonneville’s performance as “almost unbearably vivid” in its final scenes.