Devil takes the foremost in 'The Screwtape Letters'

Max McLean said he was quite familiar with the man downstairs before he got a chance to portray him.

He'll bring that experience and rave reviews to the Tivoli Theatre on Saturday and Sunday when he plays a senior devil in "The Screwtape Letters," a provocative and witty theatrical adaptation of the classic book by C.S. Lewis.

"It's fun to do," said McLean, a New York resident who is founder, president and producing artistic director of the Fellowship for Performing Arts in New York City. "It's been an adventure."

"The Screwtape Letters" follows a senior devil, Screwtape, and his secretary, Toadpipe, as they train an apprentice demon, Wormwood, on how to "undermine faith and prevent the formation of virtues" in a young man who has just converted to Christianity.

McLean said Lewis' book was one of the first ones he read after converting to Christianity in his 20s.

"Oh, I know this person," he said he remembered thinking of the character of Screwtape.

Now the character himself, McLean said he is fun to play because he is "the smartest guy in the room -- all drama and glitz. He loves the way he looks. He loves the sound of his voice."

Now, he said, he just has to make sure "it doesn't get to me in real life."

McLean said the production will appeal to all theatergoers because "all of us, regardless of faith, have to come to terms with evil and the bad things that happen to us."

He said it's not so much the catastrophic events that plague people day to day but those "on the everyday annoyances scale -- the temptations that actually chart the direction of our life."

What's also interesting, McLean said, is that the "deep, profound, devotional" book turns conventional wisdom on its head.

"It's not what we think about demons," he said. "It's what demons think about us. The world is very convoluted."

Sharing the stage with McLean is actress Karen Eleanor Wight, who speaks in "demonese" as Wormwood.

"She is an amazing actress/mime/artist who slips very, very easily into temptation techniques," he said. "She makes sure Screwtape wasn't bound behind a desk" and "adds energy and excitement to the play."

IF YOU GO

* What: "The Screwtape Letters."

* When: 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday.

* Where: Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St.

* Admission: $29-$49.

* Phone: 642-8497.

* Web site: www.etix.com.

GENESIS

Max McLean, star of "The Screwtape Letters," said playwright/director Jeffrey Fiske had seen him in a previous production, e-mailed him and suggested he would be a good Screwtape. "I didn't know whether that was a compliment or not," he said. Nevertheless, he suggested Fiske see if he could get the rights to the book, which he did. The initial production of the play opened at Theatre 315 in New York City in January 2006 for a limited three-week run. Because of its popularity, though, it ran for 10 sold-out weeks. It reopened in the fall of 2007 at the larger Theatre at St. Clement's for another 12 sold-out weeks. In April 2008, it transferred to The Shakespeare Theatre Company's Lansburgh Theatre in Washington, D.C., for a sold-out five-week run. In October 2008, it transferred to the Mercury Theater in Chicago for a scheduled six-week run that grew to six months.