--- title: "You’re Going to Want to See This! C.S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert" description: "After weeks of anticipation, Lindsay Schlegel reviews C.S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert by the Fellowship for Performing Arts in New York City." --- [![catholic-mom-logo-v2](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/images/catholic-mom-logo-v2.svg "catholic-mom-logo-v2")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) [![search-icon](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/search-icon.svg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2017/03/28/youre-going-want-see-c-s-lewis-onstage-reluctant-convert#) # You’re Going to Want to See This! C.S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert Mar 28, 2017 1:00:49 PM  |  by [Lindsay Schlegel](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/lindsay-schlegel) [!["You’re Going to Want to See This! C.S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert" by Lindsay Schlegel (CatholicMom.com)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Max-McLean-in-Fellowship-for-Performing-Arts-C_S_-LEWIS-ONSTAGE-THE-MOST-RELUCTANT-CONVERT-photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel.jpg?width=800&height=533&name=Max-McLean-in-Fellowship-for-Performing-Arts-C_S_-LEWIS-ONSTAGE-THE-MOST-RELUCTANT-CONVERT-photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel.jpg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Max-McLean-in-Fellowship-for-Performing-Arts-C_S_-LEWIS-ONSTAGE-THE-MOST-RELUCTANT-CONVERT-photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel.jpg) Courtesy of Jeremy Daniel. Used with permission. All rights reserved. One of the beautiful things about living in New Jersey (and there are many, I assure you), is the proximity to New York City. My husband makes the interstate journey via train every day for work. A few weeks ago, we both commuted on a Saturday afternoon to see a play we’d been eyeing for some time. [*C.S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert*](https://fpatheatre.com/tour/1311/) is a one-man show on the renowned author’s life up until he received—I mean really *received*—Communion for the first time. The show is a production by the [Fellowship for Performing Arts](https://fpatheatre.com/about/), whose mission is to “[produce] theatre from a Christian worldview that engages a diverse audience.” Mission accomplished. My husband and I have read an assortment of Lewis’s books. Our kids may or may not believe Narnia is a real place (isn’t it, though?) Lewis is quite literally a household name around here. While John and I knew something of Lewis’s life going into the show, we didn’t know as much as we came to understand from these eighty minutes in Lewis’s study. Lewis is portrayed as a thoughtful, intelligent, and earnestly searching human being. There is humor and there is pain, to use the man’s own words. But there are also moments that sparked something deeper, the most moving of which—to my mind—came from a revelation by a friend Lewis respected greatly. What struck me was that Lewis’s conversion wasn’t so much the result of someone telling him, “Hey! Over here! Look! This is Truth!” but more the sharing of a journey with people he admired and looked up to in certain ways. He didn’t want to convert. He knew that if he did, there would be consequences, responsibility. It was his friends’ examples and witness that led him to find what he’d been searching for in so many other places. And once he knew the Truth, he had no choice but to live it out. [tweet "Once CS Lewis knew the Truth, he had no choice but to live it out. By @lindsayschlegel"] After the show, Max McLean, who created the play, directed it, and starred in it, came out for a Q&A with the audience. It was a great conversation about faith, art, and where these things fit into our lives. I’m sure it’s different with every group, and it was a special and engaging way to close the show. John and I had our own great conversation on the way home. There were some characters we didn’t know much about—authors Lewis had read, people he knew—that we’ve added to our reading list. This was a play that left us wanting more, but I think that’s the point. It wasn’t meant to chronicle Lewis’s whole life. The story brought us to the point where he found what he had been hungering for. It was a story of conversion. As any Christian will tell you, that’s just the beginning. *Copyright 2017 Lindsay Schlegel* ### Share this article [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F03%2F28%2Fyoure-going-want-see-c-s-lewis-onstage-reluctant-convert%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F03%2F28%2Fyoure-going-want-see-c-s-lewis-onstage-reluctant-convert%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F03%2F28%2Fyoure-going-want-see-c-s-lewis-onstage-reluctant-convert%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=You%E2%80%99re%20Going%20to%20Want%20to%20See%20This%21%20C.S.%20Lewis%20Onstage%3A%20The%20Most%20Reluctant%20Convert) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F03%2F28%2Fyoure-going-want-see-c-s-lewis-onstage-reluctant-convert%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F03%2F28%2Fyoure-going-want-see-c-s-lewis-onstage-reluctant-convert%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ** #### About the Author ![Lindsay Schlegel](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Lindsay%20Schlegel.jpg) ### [Lindsay Schlegel](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/lindsay-schlegel) Lindsay Schlegel is a daughter of God, wife, mom, editor, and speaker. She’s the author of *Don’t Forget to Say Thank You: And Other Parenting Lessons That Brought Me Closer to God* and host of the podcast *Quote Me with Lindsay Schlegel. Lindsay seeks to encourage, inspire, and lift others up to be all they were created to be. Connect with Lindsay at her website, LindsaySchlegel.com.* [**](https://www.facebook.com/LindsaySchlegelAuthor/) ## Related Blog Articles [ Catholic Digs: Reviewing the Catholic T-Shirt Club Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2017/07/25/catholic-digs-reviewing-catholic-t-shirt-club) [ I Wish I’d Read This Book on Raising Catholic Kids Sooner, But I’m So Glad I’m Doing It Now Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2019/10/22/i-wish-id-read-this-book-on-raising-catholic-kids-sooner-but-im-so-glad-im-doing-it-now/) [ You Can’t Steal Jesus’ Thunder Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/you-cant-steal-jesus-thunder) ## Comments ## Donate now [![Support Catholic Mom](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545) [![CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png?width=1806&height=731&name=CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png "CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) ##### Subscribe to Catholic Momcast on iTunes or Spotify [![itunes-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/itunes-logo-black.svg)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-momcast/id1362352357)[![spotify-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/spotify-logo-black.svg)](https://open.spotify.com/show/15CoipHL7z61IDcYErV0b8?si=hqaQJSxDQgq7S1hxCwsoxQ) ##### CatholicMom on Social Networks [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) ##### About Catholic Mom [Who We Are](https://www.catholicmom.com/about-us) [Contact Us](https://www.catholicmom.com/contact) [Support CatholicMom.com](https://www.catholicmom.com/support-us)   ##### Associated Links [Holy Cross Family Ministries](https://www.hcfm.org/) [Family Rosary](https://www.familyrosary.org/) [Family Theater Productions](https://www.familytheater.org/) [Congregation of the Holy Cross](https://www.holycrossusa.org/) [Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.](https://www.fatherpeyton.org/) [The Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life](https://www.peytonfamilyinstitute.org/) ### **Stay connected!** Don’t miss a thing! 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