My thankful posts are kind of a review of what has been going on in the past week and good friendships are a recurring theme.
This past weekend I saw a production of C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters by Fellowship for the Performing Arts. It’s been awhile since I’ve read the book, but Lewis is one of my all time favorite authors.
Below is a clip of the play and viewers’ comments:
http://vimeo.com/44054348
About the Screwtape Letters Play
The play is essentially a monologue with Screwtape dictating his letters to an assistant. It’s been awhile since I’ve read the book, but it seemed very faithful to it and if you love the book, I think you will also enjoy this play.
In one of the early letters, Screwtape is listing the souls of the great sinners the demons have enjoyed feasting on. As he went down the list, he was bemoaning the “quality,” the lukewarmness of their current supply of souls and said almost as an aside something along the lines of, “even a Hitler would do.”
Lewis wrote this from 1940 to 1941, and by his comment it was obvious that although the world at large knew that he was a problem, they almost saw him as a comical figure, this histrionic rabble rouser stirring things up. They didn’t see him as the epitome of evil that we do today.
The one change that they made was it wasn’t specifically set in World War II, which if you look at that Hitler comment in context, it doesn’t really make sense. The producer said it was because WWII and Hitler were a little “anachronistic” and instead they changed the references to the war to address “terror.”
Afterward, there was a 10 minute Q&A with the producer, Max McClean. Most people stayed for it, but it surprised me at the number of people who left.
A lot of people, obviously, were Lewis fans. A good percentage had read the book. But there were also a good number that had never even heard of it . . . which seemed a little odd to me. Maybe they came with someone.
I had never heard of the producer, but my friend told me that he’s a big deal. He is a famous actor, but he also is the voice of the NIV audio Bible. She listened to it when she first became a Christian and she said, “He’s like the voice of God to me.”
The Screwtape Letters Play Performance Schedule
So the play was awesome. It really refreshed the book for me. If you have an opportunity to see it, I would definitely recommend it. The upcoming locations are:
- Louisville, KY: Saturday, September 18, 2013
- Tulsa, OK: Saturday, October, 5, 2013
- San Diego, CA: Saturday, October 19, 2013
- Longview, TX: Saturday, November 2, 2013
- Dallas, TX: Saturday, November 9, 2013
- St. Louis, MO: Saturday, December 7, 2013
- Orange County/LA: December 27-29, 2013
The Best is Fellowship
But as awesome as the play was, the best part was that it was bookended with time with my friends. The play was an excuse for two of my friendsto get to know each other.
