Tomorrow Max McLean of Fellowship for Performing Arts will fly to the United Kingdom where he will begin shooting on location for the motion picture film adaptation of C.S. Lewis The Most Reluctant Convert. Fellowship for Performing Arts has amazed audiences with top notch C.S. Lewis stage productions The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, Shadowlands, and C.S. Lewis The Most Reluctant Convert. The material that this movie is based upon is Max McLean’s one man stage play that chronicles the Narnia author’s journey from atheism to Christianity (NarniaFans.com 4 Shield Review). Although a filmed from the stage version of this production is already available on DVD, the new movie version will be entirely different with a full cast shooting at historic locations from C.S. Lewis’s life.
“The difference about this play is it’s going to be on location all over Oxford. We have full access to Maudlin College, The Kilns, the church, [and] various other places that are mentioned in the play. Instead of it being a one person show, it’s going to be a multi-actor show. I’ll play the older Lewis, we’ll have a boy Lewis, a young Lewis in his 20’s, cast his mother, his father, Tolkien, Barfield, Kirk, among others, and that is going to begin shortly.”-Max McLean
In March 2020 the entire world of Fellowship for Performing Arts came to a complete standstill. The New York based theatrical organization had been selling 2,000 tickets a week for their four productions, but that quickly dropped to 0 tickets a week and there is no expectation that live theater will resume until 2021. More than 30 FPA shows have been canceled because it is far too dangerous to hold any public gatherings in the United States.
“Since our plays have all shut down, we’ve moved up our feature film adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s conversion story. That was designed to be a 2021/2022 project, well we’ve moved it up to September and October of this year. I’ll be leaving tomorrow for the UK to begin shooting in mid-September (I have to quarantine for two weeks before we begin shooting).”-Max McLean
Norman Stone is the producer of this movie. This award-winning British director also directed Shadowlands (1985), C.S. Lewis: Beyond Narnia (2005), and The Narnia Code (2009).
Since Fellowship for Performing Arts normally relies on ticket revenue to cover half of their organization’s budget it is now more important than ever to support the performing arts. If you are enthusiastic about seeing C.S. Lewis’s story told on the screen you may donate to this project now with a tax deductible donation or matched pledge.
Trailer (Stage Version)
The Most Reluctant Convert – Sizzle Reel from Fellowship for Performing Arts on Vimeo.
Sources:
Fellowship Circle Summer 2020 FPA Will Be Ready When Live Theatre Returns
Creating Art and Theatre from a Christian Worldview for a Post-Christian World with Max McLean LIVE Broadcast August 30, 2020
