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Have you ever "acted like the devil"?
Posted : 9 May, 2011 07:31 AM
Stage actor Max McLean is engaged in doing so for God this year in a touring production of C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters".
This month's issue of Charles Stanley's IN TOUCH devotional magazine presents an interesting interview by Sandy Feit that shares Max McLean's heart and spirit, his experiences and motivations with "acting like the devil" as he portrays Lewis' lead character 'Screwtape' in this classic play.
Love, Steve
Acting Like the Devil
Max McLean talks about his role as Screwtape
By Sandy Feit
Toward the end of December, a blizzard blew through New York City, closing airports and crippling everything from the subway to sanitation service. But in the Westside Theatre just off Times Square, the curtain went up as scheduled. And after 9 months and 300 performances, veteran stage actor Max McLean again stepped into the role of a chief demon under Satan�His Abysmal Sublimity Under-Secretary Screwtape. As the title character in C. S. Lewis�s classic, The Screwtape Letters, he teaches a novice demon the intricacies of keeping one�s �patient� from serving God (a.k.a. their �Enemy�). Through correspondence about the evil realm�s morally upside-down �lowerarchy,� Lewis�s intention was to warn his audience about the Devil�s snares.
Following the matinee performance, Max met me in the Westside�s upper lobby�a cozy, neutral spot midway between the frigid weather outside and the set�s hellish red glow. There was no wistfulness about the show�s imminent closing, as a year-long 30-city tour would begin within a week (www.screwtapeonstage.com). We sat by the theatre�s Christmas tree, which provided ambiance and a touch of irony as we discussed the play and its ingenious inversion of spiritual truth.
In Touch: It must be gratifying that Screwtape has gotten wonderful reviews from both Christian and secular critics.
Max McLean: I�ve been pleased with the fact that we get a very diverse audience. We get atheists and agnostics who appreciate the language, who appreciate the stagecraft, the psychological and theological insight. And then, of course, there�s this sense of spending 90 minutes with the Devil. You have a kind of [curiosity about] How do you work? You�re one of the most fascinating characters not only in theology but in literature. The Devil always captures the imagination, and there�s something to that. Lewis believed that we have these archetypes in our head�literary imaginations that are myths, but behind those myths is something very true and real. And that�s what Screwtape does: [it makes the audience ask], �What is true behind it?�
In adapting the book to the stage, did you think about non-Christian theatergoers?
Actually, if I had in mind a particular audience, it would be a person who may have had a Christian experience of some kind in childhood or early on, but it somehow dissipated. I find that Lewis is really good with �closet Christians��people with a desire for more of a spir-itual connection but for whatever reason don�t like church, don�t like Christians, and just avoided it all.
So in other words, The Screwtape Letters taps into something deep within?
Yes, I think Lewis awakens it from that reverse moral universe that he creates. Of course, it could dissipate again, because you�ve got �Screwtapes� right outside the door. Just like the guy at the British museum�he�s having a very powerful spiritual moment, and then Screwtape whispers in his ear, �Isn�t it just about time for lunch?� That�s so real�it�ll get you right out of there. And I love the line where Screwtape says, �It�s funny how these humans picture us as putting things into their minds. Our best work is done by keeping things out.� That�s powerful. Lewis was so brilliant.
Yet he described how draining it was to write Screwtape: �Though I have never written anything more easily, I never wrote with less enjoyment.� Did memorizing all that convoluted demonic strategy have a similar effect on you?
[ ]: Actually, I�m ashamed to say I love playing Screwtape. Just to be able to use that language. There�s a difference between the creative artist�the one who�s actually writing�and an interpretive artist, which is what I do. And, of course, I know why I�m doing it: Lewis has said that all of his work was essentially evangelistic, but he did it in the context of Oxford, England, which is an intellectual culture, where there would be debate and understanding and reasoned conversation. And that approach really works for the theatre.
Has the role led to any epiphanies?
I�m much more aware of spiritual warfare. I would say that as an evangelical Christian, I�ve paid lip service to spiritual warfare, because we tend to perceive it like the movie Exorcist. Whereas Lewis�s writing about it has more a sense of the banality of evil. Its corrupting influence is that it flattens you out and makes you feel less, do less, be less until you become a nothing. Screwtape says, �The safest road to hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope,� because he wants to lull you to sleep so your guard is not up. That has made me much more aware and deepened my prayer life. It has also made me realize how insidious the sin of pride is. And that�s the other thing�pride is the greatest sin, and consequently, humility is the greatest virtue. Of course, being in the theatre doesn�t help that.
I understand you do Q&A sessions after certain performances. What are they like?
Those are great�always interesting, always amusing. For one thing, I tell them that I work for the �Enemy� [i.e., God]. And last night, someone mentioned Screwtape�s line, �How much better for us if all humans died in costly nursing homes amid doctors who lie, nurses who lie, friends who lie, as we have trained them, promising life to the dying, encouraging the belief that sickness excuses every indulgence.� He wanted to know, �What do you think Lewis meant by that?� I asked him, �Are you a doctor?� [Laughing] And he was! Then I answered, �You know, people want some sort of instant something that�s kind of a pabulum, not dealing with truth. Lewis is pretty much heart medicine.�
Do you get a lot of challenging questions?
Not really. Theatre is not about debate; it�s about feeling. Get people into that world, and they start saying, �Could this be true?� That�s the power of theatre. Romans 1:19 says that we all have the knowledge of God within us, but we suppress it. What�s so good about theatre is that art meets us in our imagination, where the knowledge of God exists and where we�ve suppressed it. So people start asking, Could this be true? And that�s a really good question to ask.
I�m curious about how you �get into� the role and become Screwtape.
I�m not a Method actor; my approach to acting is to be true to the script, to make it as real to the audience as possible, to make sure they understand it, to make sure they hear it, to make sure it is phrased in a way that allows them to get engaged in it. The script is very, very dense, so you have to open it up; you have to make it breathe. So no, I don�t try to �become� Screwtape in that sense.
Then how do you prepare for the part?
When I come to the show, I try to be as relaxed as possible. And my prayer life has become more every day devotional life. Prayer is something to be constantly vigilant about. It is a way of having a conversation with God�you know, What is God asking me to do right now? That sort of thing. And in fact, prayer is not a thing to do; it is a thing to be.
Copyright 2011 In Touch Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. www.intouch.org. In Touch grants permission to print for personal use only.
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