The acclaimed theatrical adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ the Great Divorce comes to Chattanooga Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St. Show times are 4 and 8 p.m.
“This Twilight Zone-like fantasy is an entertaining and moving morality tale about human choices featuring vivid characters drawn with Lewis’ trademark wit,” said Max McLean, founder and artistic director of New York City-based Fellowship for Performing Arts, the show’s producer.
The Great Divorce premiered in December, and the Chattanooga engagement is part of a 21-city tour in 2014 that includes Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Washington D.C. and Atlanta prior to coming in to New York in 2015.
Fellowship for Performing Arts also produces the nationally-acclaimed hit the Screwtape Letters, which drew rave reviews off-Broadway and appeared in over 50 major cities throughout the United States. It played at the Tivoli in 2009 and again in 2013. Over 400,000 theatergoers have seen the Screwtape Letters on tour and in New York. Following the success of the Screwtape Letters, Mr. McLean conceived the idea to adapt the Great Divorce for the stage.
"This is Lewis at his imaginative best," he said. “In the Great Divorce, several of Lewis' quirky, hopelessly-flawed characters are invited on a bus ride out of Hell and into Paradise. But the bizarre question the play asks is: Will they like it? Will they prefer Hell to Heaven? Are the doors of Hell really locked from the inside?”
"There are only two kinds of people in the end," Mr. Lewis writes in the Great Divorce, "those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'"
The Great Divorce stars Tom Beckett (Bobby Boland, Epic Proportions and The Father on Broadway and “Elbridge Gerry” in HBO's John Adams), Joel Rainwater (The Lion King, National Tour) and Christa Scott-Reed (The Pitmen Painters on Broadway).
Adapted by Mr. McLean and Brian Watkins, the Great Divorce is directed by Bill Castellino, with the creative team including Executive Producer and General Manager Ken Denison of Aruba Productions, Scenic Designer Kelly James Tighe, Costume Designer Nicole Wee and Lighting Designer Michael Gilliam. Original music and sound design are by John Gromada with projections by Chris Kateff.
Tickets are $29 to $59. Student seats are $25 (student ID required). For groups of 10 or more (including student groups) call 866.476-8707.
To purchase tickets, visit www.CSLewisOnStage.com or call 800.514-3849. The Tivoli Theatre Box Office hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and one hour prior to the show.