Fellowship for Performing Arts production of the Screwtape Letters at DCPA

Sat 23 August 2025

The Screwtape Letters gives readers a glimpse into the dynamics of spiritual warfare through the correspondence of two demons – Screwtape and his nephew Wormwood. Delving into topics such as prayer, temptation, church, pride and so much more, C.S. Lewis reminds readers of the very real spiritual battles going on around them every day.

Originally published in 1942, these words have stood the test of time and continued to impact those who read them, including Fellowship for Performing Arts Founder and Artistic Director Max McLean, who adapted the book into a stage play.

The show was at the Elle Caulkins Opera house. I love this venue, no bad seats in the house. We get especially good seats, first row of the first mezzanine.

At the Elle Caulkins

Top Five quotes from Screwtape Letters:

  1. “Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts,…Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.”
    Screwtape sends a reminder to Wormwood; it’s not always the major moments of darkness and sin luring their patient toward Hell, but rather the mundane, day-to-day happenings inching him further away from “the Enemy” (God, in the book). This reminds readers and audiences to be alert, for it is in the small things – the singular steps – that we walk in one direction or another.

  2. “It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.”
    “Set your mind on things above,” writes Paul to the Colossians. Throughout Scripture, we are told to fix our minds on Christ, so it comes as no surprise that the demons in The Screwtape Letters are focused on keeping out the things of God. As this quote illustrates, we often find ourselves focused on what the devil might be trying to put into our heads through media or the voices of others. Instead, Lewis argues the devil likely cares more about keeping the things of God out.

  3. “Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear, avarice, lust and ambition look ahead.”
    Through Screwtape, Lewis reminds readers that fear and avarice, lust and ambition are all found by looking ahead. When humans lose focus on the present and forget what God has done in the past, the result is an unhealthy obsession with the future. Gratitude gets lost when people obsess over what they lack – always seeking something new or better. Similarly, focusing too much on the future distracts from what is currently happening, adding to the feeling of not having enough. Fear builds out of the perceived lack and future-centered worry, creating an unstable self more prone to missing out on what God is doing right now.

  4. “Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished and asks why he has been forsaken and still obeys.”
    In seasons of darkness, where God is hard to see, a Christian’s weapon is obedience. The words of Screwtape are intense here: “Our cause is never more in danger.” This serves as a reminder to Christians reading Lewis’ words – obeying God when there is seemingly no reason to wreaks havoc on the devil’s plans. Often it is difficult for Christians to obey, particularly when the world gives them no trace of a God who would care one way or the other. Yet when a Christian still intends to obey, and does – even in the midst of feeling forsaken – there is supernatural strength against the Screwtape-like powers scheming against God. The devil longs to see Christians stray from their purpose, so when his plans don’t work that way, it creates problems for the spiritual evils of the world.

  5. “When He [God] talks of their losing their selves, He means only abandoning the clamor of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever.” While at first glance The Screwtape Letters may seem to be about a somewhat dark topic, C.S. Lewis reminds readers throughout the letters of the goodness of God and the wholeness of man in Him – something demons are horribly afraid of. This quote serves as a reminder when having lost themselves in Him, mortals find they are fully who they are created to be.

Quotes like these are why The Screwtape Letters remains relevant, not only to readers of the book, but to audiences of Fellowship for Performing Arts’ production. That is why, nearly 18 years after that first production in New York, FPA continues to tour The Screwtape Letters to top-notch performing arts venues across the country.

Post show we dined at the Corner Office. It has been sometime since I've eaten there, but it didn't disappoint. Good pimento cheese starter and well-prepared steak (meaning medium rare as opposed to well done :).

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