'The Screwtape Letters' comes to SLC

Courtesy photo/The Screwtape Letters website

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Max McLean, star and artistic director of "The Screwtape Letters," dictates to Toadpipe, who plays his assistant and transforms her body into all the characters Screwtape requires to keep his patient away from the enemy – God.

SALT LAKE CITY — "The Screwtape Letters" will be presented for two performances on Jan. 28 at Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

"‘The Screwtape Letters’ is a provocative and wickedly funny theatrical adaptation of C. S. Lewis’ novel about spiritual warfare from the demon’s point of view," said Katharine Hughes, public relations director of Noreen Heron & Associates, the production company. "Audiences and critics of all faiths have responded positively to ‘The Screwtape Letters,’ including Douglas Gresham, C. S. Lewis’ stepson, who saw it and loved the production in New York."

"The Screwtape Letters" opened for sold-out crowds in Chicago three years ago and played 309 performances at the off-Broadway Westside Theatre in New York in 2010, said Hughes. "In 2011, the production continued to break box-office records in numerous theaters throughout the country and has been viewed positively by the secular press as well as the Christian press."

The production is embarking on its 2012 tour and will be presented in Los Angeles and San Francisco before coming to Salt Lake City. It is produced by the New York City-based Fellowship for the Performing Arts. Max McLean is president, artistic director and star of the production.

"The mission of the Fellowship for the Performing Arts is to present the Word of God to diverse audiences," said Hughes. "Max is a devout Christian and his mission is to get people talking no matter what their beliefs are by sharing this story."

"What put Salt Lake on the map for us was on many occasions when we were doing the show in New York City, many people would identify themselves as being from Salt Lake City and would unanimously say this show would do really well there," said McLean. "When you think of Salt Lake, you think of the Mormon church. However, the Catholic audience is our core audience and we reach out to them wherever we go."

The play is set in an office in hell and follows the clever scheming of Satan’s chief psychiatrist, Screwtape, as he entices a human patient toward damnation, said McLean.

"In this topsy-turvy, morally inverted universe God is the enemy and the devil is our father below. The stakes are high as human souls are hell’s primary source of food," he said.

This two-person play features McLean as the devil and Beckly Andrews and Tamala Bakkensen as Toadpipe, Screwtape’s assistant. "Toadpipe is a creature, demon, who does all Screwtape’s dictation and transforms her elastic body into all the characters Screwtape requires to keep his patient away from the enemy – God," said McLean.

McLean wants to entertain his audience, but "spiritual warfare is real," he said. "The production’s primary message is about spiritual warfare and seeing it from the demon’s eyes and how he sees humans who are trying to live a good life; trying to be faithful. C.S. Lewis loved to tell stories and loved to teach Christian theology, and ‘The Screwtape Letters’ is what we call theological fantasy. It takes theological ideas and puts them in a fantastic setting. The message is rooted in Saint Paul’s teaching in 2 Corinthians, where he said, ‘We must not be ignorant of Satan’s devices.’ The devil is happy with us thinking he doesn’t exist, because then he can do so much more damage."

"‘The Screwtape Letters’ is insightful, funny, wonderful, and has thoughtful information to offer," said Hughes. "It gets its audiences to think about faith in a different way, and fans of C.S. Lewis have said it’s a true representation of the book."