Tickets to THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS at Playhouse Square's Ohio Theatre on Sale 1/30

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, the provocative and wickedly funny theatrical adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel about spiritual warfare from a demon's point of view, returns to Playhouse Square's Ohio Theatre April 19 for 3 & 7 pm performances. Tickets go on sale Fri., Jan. 30 at 11 am at the Ticket Office, playhousesquare.org or 216-241-6000.

The Screwtape Letters creates a topsy-turvy morally-inverted universe set in an eerily stylish office in hell, where God is called the "Enemy" and the devil is referred to as "Our Father below." The play follows His Abysmal Sublimity Screwtape, Satan's top psychiatrist (due to his profound understanding of human nature), and his slavish creature-demon Toadpipe, as they train an apprentice demon, Wormwood, on how to ruin the life and damn the soul of an unsuspecting human on earth. Screwtape is played by Broadway leading actor, Brent Harris (Disney's The Lion King's Scar Face).

The idea for Screwtape first came to Lewis after listening to Hitler's Reichstag Speech on July 19, 1940, while it was simultaneously translated on BBC Radio. Lewis wrote "I don't know if I'm weaker than other people, but it is a positive revelation to me how while the speech lasts it is impossible not to waver just a little... Statements which I know to be untrue all but convince me...if only the man says them unflinchingly."

Lewis dedicated it to his close friend J. R. R. Tolkien, who had expressed to Lewis that delving too deeply into the craft of evil would have consequences. Lewis admitted as much when he wrote, "Though I had never written anything more easily, I never wrote with less enjoyment . . . though it was easy to twist one's mind into the diabolical attitude, it was not fun, or not for long. The work into which I had to project myself while I spoke through Screwtape was all dust, grit, thirst, and itch. Every trace of beauty, freshness, and geniality had to be excluded."

Along with The Chronicles of Narnia (including The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe), The Great Divorce and Mere Christianity, THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is still one of Lewis' most popular and influential works. The book's piercing insight into human nature and the lucid and humorous way Lewis makes his readers squirm in self-recognition made it an immediate success. When first published in 1942 it brought worldwide fame to this little-known Oxford don including the cover of Time Magazine.

Associated Press calls The Screwtape Letters "Devilishly funny!" The Chicago Sun-Times hails the production as "Smart, sizzling entertainment!" The Boston Globe raves that it is "Engrossing and Entertaining!" and The Chicago Tribune says The Screwtape Letters is "Very smart...richly rewarding...exuberant theatricality!"

Ticket prices for The Screwtape Letters performances at 3 & 7 pm on Sun., April 19 will be $75, $60, $50 and $40, on sale at the Playhouse Square Ticket Office, playhousesquare.org, 216-241-6000 or Group Sales at 216-640-8600. (The Screwtape Letters' 2010 performances at Playhouse Square were a sellout!)

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