The Screwtape Letters, Based on a C. S. Lewis Novel, Headed Off-Broadway

A theatrical adaptation of C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters by Jeffrey Fiske and Max McLean is headed for the the Westside Theatre’s upstairs space after a six-month run in Chicago. The solo piece, starring McLean in a performance that won a Jeff Award, will begin performances on April 15 and open on May 3 for an off-Broadway run through July 4, directed by Fiske.

The Screwtape Letters is described as a provocative and wickedly funny theatrical adaptation of the 1942 Lewis novel about spiritual warfare from a demon’s point of view. 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, McLean creates a “master of the universe” character whose rhetorical flourishes mesmerize.

The play ran for six months at Chicago’s Mercury Theatre, then spent 10 weeks at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC, followed by engagements in San Francisco, Phoenix, Louisville, Chattanooga, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston and Austin.

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