Belton, Texas – On Thursday, September 6, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor College of Visual and Performing arts will host a touring performance of An Evening with C.S. Lewis at 7:30 p.m. in the Baugh Performance Hall of the Sue & Frank Mayborn Performing Arts Center. The show is free and open to the public.
An Evening with C.S. Lewis is a one-man show featuring veteran British actor David Payne in the role of Lewis. The performance takes place in the twilight years of the life of the renowned British author and Christian apologist. With a display of oratory and humor that made him one of England’s most famous public speakers, Payne as C.S. Lewis recounts the significant events and the people that shaped his life, including how he went from atheism to Christianity.
Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963), born in Belfast, Ireland and known to his friends and family as Jack, is widely-acclaimed for his fiction, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy. His works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies.
Lewis was a close friend of J. R. R. Tolkien. Both authors were leading figures in the English faculty at Oxford University and in the informal Oxford literary group known as the “Inklings."
Payne has portrayed C.S. Lewis in numerous stage productions such as Shadowlands and his self-written Weep for Joy and Wardrobes & Rings, which centers on the last meeting between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Payne has also completed an audio version of a new Bible translation and written and produced Prisoner of Passion, a story of the Apostle Paul in prison. Payne avidly tours around the U.S. and UK, and when he is not touring he is writing or filming.
Although this event is free and open to the public, due to its popularity, seating is limited and will need complimentary tickets for attendance. These free tickets are available for pick up prior to the event in the Box Office at the Sue & Frank Mayborn Performing Arts Center. For ticket information call 254-295-5999 or connect to www.umhb.edu/pac.
