THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, presented by Fellowship for the Performing Arts at The Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Avenue, will celebrate its 125th performance and sixth smash hit month at the theater on March 2. The production is the biggest hit ever to play at The Mercury Theater, having entertained over 25,000 theatergoers during its Chicago run. THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, which originally opened in October, has since extended on multiple occasions from its original six-week run and will continue an open run due to overwhelming popularity. The play also enjoyed sold-out runs in New York and Washington, D.C.
THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is a funny and provocative theatrical adaptation of C.S. Lewis' brilliant novel that explores the theme of spiritual warfare from a demon's point of view. Adapted for the stage by Jeffrey Fiske and Max McLean, THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, which runs 90 minutes without intermission, is set in an office in hell. The engaging play follows a senior devil, Screwtape, and his secretary, Toadpipe, as they train an apprentice demon, Wormwood, on how to "undermine faith and prevent the formation of virtues" in a young man who has just converted to Christianity. As Screwtape ridicules Wormwood and devilishly dictates his letters to Toadpipe, the fantastical creature transforms into laughingly recognizable figures with whimsical movement and wordless wit.Critics have raved that the show is "Very smart...richly rewarding...exuberant theatricality!," (Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune), "Sizzling entertainment...the intellectual temperature as surely shot up...wonderfully clever. Sensational!," (Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times), "A first rate production...Terribly entertaining... Screwtape boils over with wit" (Jayne Blanchard, The Washington Times), a "Hell of a good time...imaginative theatricality...wonderful performances" (Frank Scheck, New York Post), "Sly, funny, handsomely produced" (Celia Wren, Washington Post) and "A thought-provoking, engaging, entertaining, intelligent, bitingly satirical and funny exploration of profound issues of right and wrong," (Daniel Kelley, NYTheatre.com.)
When first published in 1942. THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS brought immediate fame to C.S. Lewis, a little known Oxford don whose field of study was Medieval English and literature. Over the past sixty-five years its wit and wisdom have made it one of his most widely read and influential works. One of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably the most influential Christian writer of his day, C.S. Lewis was a Fellow and Tutor of English literature at Oxford University until 1954 when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement.
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