Lied Center presents 'The Screwtape Letters' April 6

Released on 04/03/2013, at 2:00 AM
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

WHEN: Saturday, Apr. 6, 2013

WHERE: Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th Street

Lincoln, Neb., April 3rd, 2013 —
Brent Harris as Screwtape
Brent Harris as Screwtape

            The Lied Center for Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will present "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis at 4 and 7 p.m. April 6.

            "The Screwtape Letters" is a smart, provocative and wickedly funny theatrical adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel about spiritual warfare from a demon's point of view. It was a hit in New York City, where it played 309 performances at the Westside Theatre in 2010. Prior to that it ran for six months in Chicago, where the Chicago Tribune described the production as one of the "most successful shows in the history of Chicago's Mercury Theatre."

            The play, set in an 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 Satan is "Our Father Below." The stakes are high as human souls are hell's primary source of food.

            As His Abysmal Sublimity, Screwtape is a "master of the universe" character who mesmerizes the audience as he allures 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," "The Great Divorce" and "Mere Christianity," "The Screwtape Letters" is 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 then-little-known Oxford don, including the cover of Time Magazine.

            Tickets start at $29 for adults and $14.50 for youth and may be purchased at the Lied Center Ticket Office, 301 N. 12th St., by phone at 402-472-4747 or online at http://www.liedcenter.org. Pre-show talks, scheduled one-half hour before each performance, are free to ticket holders and will be in the Lied Center's Steinhart Room.

Writer: Matthew Boring

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