Admirers of legendary British author C.S. Lewis won’t want to miss David Payne’s rendition of the literary icon via ‘An Evening with C.S. Lewis’.

The performance runs Feb. 27 at Deer Park Alliance Church.

Payne’s first encounter with Lewis was when, as a teenager, he was given a copy of Lewis’ best-selling book Screwtape Letters.

He’s been paying homage to the famed author – who died in 1963 – in various roles since 1996.

Payne later was given a copy of A Grief Observed, Lewis’s riveting diary of grief following the death of his wife Joy. Captivated by the brutal honesty of a man bearing his soul, Payne memorized the book and then adapted it into a one-man show Mist in the Mourning.

He toured this production throughout the U.S. and following these shows, he was often asked lots of questions about Lewis. He was pleased to answer such questions and then one day the thought occurred to him. “Wouldn’t it be fun if Lewis could answer these questions?”

That’s when he wrote An Evening with C.S. Lewis, basing the show around the questions that people kept asking and the pivotal occurrences in Lewis’s life.

An Evening with C.S. Lewis is set in 1963, and he is hosting a group of American writers who are visiting England and have come to his home, just outside of Oxford.

They are eagerly anticipating hearing the man who has become a legend in his own lifetime and they are not disappointed.

Despite his failing health, Lewis is in great form. His audience is spellbound as he, with a display of oratory and humour that made him one of England’s most famous public speakers, recounts the significant events and the people that shaped his life.

Payne’s tour is in support of World Vision Canada.

For more information, visit www.davidpaynedrama.com.

-Weber