Screwtape: A Masterful Performance

Photo. courtesy of the Ottawa Fringe.

John Huston can be a mesmerizing performer, but he also brings an intellectual vigour to his work. In this adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s legendary Screwtape Letters, he is both amusing and unsettling in his portrayal of a senior devil who tackles his duties as a satanic tempter with robust commitment while also attempting to rouse his numb-brained nephew, Wormwood out of his torpor. Huston, a dapperly attired devil in a dark Bay Street suit with an appropriately scarlet necktie, also displays his own brand of evangelical fervour when he passionately declares, “Catch the shepherd, and the whole flock of sheep will follow.” And he’s quite astonishing at the moment when he turns into a centipede.

However, the sanctuary of this church is not the easiest venue for him or his audience. The other afternoon, the effectiveness of his performance was in frequent jeopardy from the church’s challenging acoustics.

Screwtape, from By The Book Productions, Toronto

Adapted and performed by John D. Huston

St Paul’s Eastern United Church