Take something really good, then twist it just a little.
And then things go from bad to worse, from heaven to hell.
“It’s what Paul meant when he wrote that we must not be ignorant to his (the devil’s) devices. Satan takes what is good and manipulates it for his own purposes,” said Max McLean, co-creator and director of the stage production of C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters.”
Manipulating the good is the primary strategy of the demon Screwtape, a fictional character Lewis created who serves as Satan’s chief psychiatrist.
“When Screwtape is talking to Wormwood (a junior demon) about the best way to bring your patient into damnation, he says to use all these tiny simple things,” McLean said.
They might seem to be small sins, he said, and “people think, ‘Oh, they won’t hurt.’ But Screwtape tells Wormwood, ‘Do remember that all that matters is that you separate the man from the Enemy (God).’”
Edge the man away from the light — that’s the real message of Screwtape, McLean said. And the message of “The Screwtape Letters” is to know the depth of manipulation that goes on in spiritual warfare, he said.
“One of the great successes of the play and of the book is that although Screwtape is creepy, he’s so good at his job that you begin to admire his talent and his commitment,” McLean said. “He’s really all in.”
The play is set in Screwtape’s psychiatry suite in hell, an “eerily beautiful office.”
“Its motif is subtle reminders of death, yet it’s very elegant,” much like Screwtape himself, McLean explained. “He’s a liar, he’s deceiving. He wants to lure you into his trap.”
McLean should know — he’s been playing Screwtape ever since he and Jeff Fiske created the production a few years ago. In 2010, McLean and others performed “The Screwtape Letters” 309 times at the Westside Theatre in New York City. The production is in its third year of touring.
McLean has a deep voice and a way about him that the Boston Globe called “silky” and “viperish.” His voice hums over the lines as Screwtape coaches his demon nephew, Wormwood.
“He’s a larger-than-life character,” and playing him is fun, McLean said. “It’s a constellation of ideas you’ll find nowhere else … and you get to tap into those proud, arrogant and seductive emotions that you better not (use) in real life.”
The play is funny, which people find surprising, he said.
“It’s interesting humor, the humor that emerges when you see yourself … you laugh because it’s uncomfortable. You think, ‘Oh my goodness, Screwtape really knows me,’” he said.
The spiritual aspect of being inside Lewis’ classic is “entirely good,” he said.
“It starts as laughter, but it’s provocative and makes you think. For some people, it becomes a convicting experience,” McLean said. “For many, it has become a life-changing experience.”
It has a broad appeal, it engages nonbelievers and it encourages believers not to be ignorant of how evil works, he said. “It’s good for the soul.”
McLean’s troupe will perform “The Screwtape Letters” twice Jan. 26 in Birmingham at the BJCC Concert Hall. For these productions, Brent Harris will play the role of Screwtape.
For more information, visit screwtapeonstage.com.
Share with others: