The La Grange Area Teen Theater Ensemble’s winter production will be based on C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters.”
Written as a Christian apologetic novel in the form of letters between demons, LATTE’s production will be a two-act play, adapted for the stage by LATTE founder and artistic director Felicia Pfluger.
“I guess you could say that I felt like it’s what we needed in this day and age,” Pfluger said regarding the decision to bring the classic to life on stage. “Everybody loves C.S. Lewis. Everybody who has ever watched “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe,” or read the book, it spoke to them.”
Pfluger stressed that the themes in “The Screwtape Letters” were universal and not aimed at any one demographic.
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“It doesn’t matter what your background is, there’s something that can be gained for society,” she said. “It has a very subtle way of having us all laugh at ourselves and each other and kind of make you laugh at the best and the worst of us combined.”
Pfluger’s approach to the material is to cast five of the devils onstage while having the humans interacting with them unseen, with their voices coming from above.
In the book, the plot revolves around letters from a senior devil named Screwtape to his younger and less experienced nephew, the devil Wormwood.
The narrative begins with Wormwood’s attempt to lead the “Patient,” away from God, who is referred to as “the Enemy.”
At Screwtape’s suggestion, Wormwood tries to tempt the Patient with sin, so he might eventually make it into hell. He does this by introducing him to cynical friends and tempting him with unsuitable prospects for marriage.
But then the Patient, who Pfluger names Michael to make him more relatable to the audience, meets a good woman, Michelle, who has a positive effect on him.
The narrative shows various other demons tempting Michael with all manner of lewd and immoral activities. But in the end, Michael remains a faithful Christian and ends up in Heaven.
Pfluger pointed out how Lewis ultimately pointed out the limited understanding of human nature that the devils possess.
“The demons start trying to understand people, because they don’t understand the concept of love,” she said. “They don’t understand compassion … aside from knowing that the concept of these things means they may not get fed.
“Every demon, at the same time they’re talking about the foibles humans have, they seriously start fighting about the same foibles they have.”
Isla Baker, 14, of Downers Grove, is already a veteran of several LATTE productions and she talked about what it was like to play Wormwood, Screwtape’s junior apprentice demon.
“The character work was difficult because Wormwood changes throughout the play,” she said. “I wanted to make it apparent to the audience how the character’s arc unfolds. There was a scene where my character expresses intense emotions. I struggled to convey the character’s pain and conflicting emotions in this scene.”
Nathan Bell, of Westchester, plays Screwtape, the senior devil in the narrative.
“Playing this role is actually a lot of fun,” he said. “Screwtape is an interesting character. He is extremely unhinged at times and has a larger than life personality but he is also a very cunning, crafty kind of villain. It’s neat because 90% of my character arc is giving other characters advice on how to corrupt people, which is really fun to act out.”
Isi Kowalchuk, a Willowbrook High School sophomore, plays the demon Slumtrimpet in her fourth LATTE production.
“My character is a master manipulator,” she said. “Playing Slumtrimpet is cool because of how much confidence she shows, yet the most challenging aspect was bringing out the anger in my character.”
The “Screwtape Letters,” a play in two acts, will be performed by the La Grange Area Teen Theater Ensemble at the Plymouth Place Auditorium, 315 N. La Grange Rd.
It opens Thursday, Nov. 20 with a 7 p.m. curtain call, followed by 7 p.m. show Nov. 21, a 2 p.m. matinee Nov. 22, and a 7 p.m. show later that night.
Information is at lattetheater.com.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.