C S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters is returning to Chattanooga’s Tivoli Theatre for two performances on Saturday, Feb. 9. There is an evening performance at 8 p.m. as well as a 4 p.m. matinee.
Review for The Screwtape Letters:
It was a hit in NYC where it played 309 performances at the Westside Theatre in 2010. Prior to that it ran for six months in Chicago. It also had two engagements at The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. where it played for 10 sold-out weeks.
The play, set in a eerily stylish office in hell, follows the clever scheming of Satan's chief psychiatrist, Screwtape, as he entices a human 'patient' toward damnation. 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.
As His Abysmal Sublimity Screwtape, award-winning actor Brent Harris creates a “master of the universe” character who mesmerizes the audience as he seduces his unsuspecting 'patient' down the “soft, gentle path to Hell.” At his feet is Screwtape's able assistant Toadpipe, a grotesque demon who transforms her elastic body into the paragons of vices and characters Screwtape requires to keep his patient away from the "Enemy."
Along with The Chronicles of Narnia (including The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), The Great Divorce and Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters is still one of Lewis’ most popular and influential works. The book's success is due to its piercing insight into human nature and the lucid and humorous way Lewis makes his readers squirm in self recognition. When first published in 1942 it brought immediate fame to this little-known Oxford don including the cover of Time Magazine.
All seats reserved from $40.50-$60.50 plus convenience fees. Group discount available. Tickets are on sale now at the Auditorium box office, online at ChattanoogaOnStage.com, or call 642-TIXS or 757-5050 (day of show).