Photo Flash: THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS at the Westside Theatre

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS was a hit at Chicago's Mercury Theatre where it ran for six months. It was also a success at The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. where it played for ten sold out weeks. This fall it embarked on a national tour delighting capacity houses in San Francisco, Phoenix, Louisville, Chattanooga, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston and Austin.

Critics described THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS as "Sizzling entertainment...wonderfully clever...the intellectual temperature surely has shot up!!" (Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times). "Very smart...richly rewarding...exuberant theatricality!" (Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune), "A first rate production...terribly entertaining...Screwtape boils over with wit!" (Jayne Blanchard, The Washington Times), "Sly, funny, handsomely produced," (Celia Wren, Washington Post) and "Pure genius...an outstanding piece of work," (John J. Miller, National Review).

The book's success as a piercing insight into humanity's bent toward evil is due to Lewis' lucid capacity to make his readers squirm in self recognition. When first published in 1942, it brought immediate fame to this little-known Oxford don, including the cover of Time Magazine.

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is still one Lewis' most influential works, along with such other classics as The Chronicles of Narnia (including The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe), The Great Divorce and Mere Christianity.

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."

Adapting this novel to the stage, Jeffrey Fiske and Max McLean, focused tightly on the novel's arc of how to entice the mind of a human "patient" toward damnation. In this inverted moral universe set in an office in hell, God is called the "Enemy" and the devil is referred to as "Our Father below."

As His Abysmal Sublimity Screwtape, Max McLean, the 2009 recipient of Chicago's Jeff Award for Solo Performance, creates a "master of the universe" character, all too familiar to New Yorkers, whose rhetorical flourishes mesmerize while he persuades.

At his feet is the creature-demon, Toadpipe, who transforms into the paragons of vice Screwtape conjures with a flick of his fingers. The actors' combined skills wheedle their unsuspecting soul down the "soft, gentle path to hell."

Scenic design is by Cameron Anderson, costumes are by Michael Bevins, lighting by Jesse Klug, and sound is by John Gromada.

The performance schedule for THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is as follows: Mondays and Tuesdays at 7pm, Wednesday Matinee at 2pm, Fridays at 8pm , Saturdays 4pm and 8pm at and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets range in price from $20 to $95. There are a limited number of $20 student rush tickets that can be purchased day of each performance at the box office. A valid Student ID must be presented. To purchase tickets, call 212.239.6200 or visit www.telecharge.com. More information is available at www.ScrewtapeOnStage.com. For groups of 10 or more call 866.476.8707 for rates.

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