CHICAGO—Getting a glimpse of what a devious, witty devil is thinking and following a fascinating exploration of how he works isn’t just mind expanding. In the stage version of C.S. Lewis’s “The Screwtape Letters,” it’s thought-provoking and emotionally gripping.
The riveting production was staged on Sept. 13 and 14 in Chicago’s Athanaeum Theatre as part of a national tour. Although the extraordinary show just closed in Chicago, interested audiences can see it when it tours cities across America. The play is produced by the Fellowship for the Performing Arts, which is dedicated to bringing Christian works to a national audience.
“The Screwtape Letters” was first published in 1941 as weekly series and then as as book in 1942 by C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), the British author best known for “The Chronicles of Narnia,” the children’s fantasy world of magic and mythical animals. Taking creative liberties, “Screwtape” was adapted into a stage production by Max McLean and Jeffrey Fiske and debuted in 2006 in New York City.
Screwtape (Brent Harris) plots with Toadpipe (Shiloh Goodin), in “The Screwtape Letters.” (Joan Marcus)A Demon’s Plot
“The Screwtape Letters” is a satirical tale about the vicissitudes of faith. It’s set in hell and revolves around Screwtape, a devil who is training his nephew, Wormwood. During the course of the play, Screwtape writes a series of instructions to his nephew, who is assigned to a human known as the Patient.
Screwtape is providing a roadmap for Wormwood so he can do devil’s work properly so that Patient is duly damned. “Remember you are there to fuddle him,” Screwtape writes, and “Do not allow any temporary excitement to distract you from the real business of undermining faith and preventing the formation of virtues.”
In this topsy-turvy moral universe, which is set in a sophisticated office in hell, Screwtape dictates a letter to his unseen nephew as he tries to educate him on the fallacies of human nature. Helping Screwtape do his dirty work is a reptilian-looking creature, Toadpipe (a slithering and frightening portrayal by Tamala Bakkensen in the Chicago performance only), a non-speaking assistance who vomits whenever it hears the word “prayer.”
The inventive play deals with themes of evil and temptation as Screwtape tasks Wormwood to lead an individual away from faith and towards damnation. The work explores how evil works—its tactics and mindset—when it plays on fear and distracts men from faith to worldly concerns.
Toadpipe (Shiloh Goodin) cuts an intimidating figure, in “The Screwtape Letters.” (Joan Marcus)The Production
Directed by Max McClean, the 90-minute production moves swiftly. Its stage effects create an eerily stylish setting in hell that transports the audience into the world of the play. This moodiness is enhanced by lighting designer Jesse Klug’s stunning shadowy and blood-red lit background.
Resting center on a raked stage is a comfortable leather chair, a footstool, and a writing table. Behind them is a back-wall projection of a human catacomb of skulls, skeletal remains, and white bones that symbolize humanity’s moral corruption.
The clever and witty satire brings Lewis’s moral theory to life with intriguing insights, but it all works because of Brent Harris’s sinister and captivating portrayal of Screwtape. Powerful with a silky upper-crust persona, he’s is decked out in costume designer Michael Bevins’s red brocade jacket? What other color would the devil wear?
Screwtape (Brent Harris) and Toadpipe (Shiloh Goodin) are up to no good, in “The Screwtape Letters.” (Jeremy Daniels)“The Screwtape Letters” is a dazzling and compelling exploration that presents the timeless struggle between the forces of good and evil. It spotlights spiritual warfare, the dangers of temptation, and the importance of faith and God. At the production I saw, when the curtain came down, the audience was clearly impressed as it roared its approval with long, exhilarating applause.
‘The Screwtape Letters’
Fellowship for the Performing Arts
Tickets: fpatheatre.com
Run Time: one hour, 30 minutes (no intermission)
Closes: March 29, 2026
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