<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  I get a kick out of oddball pairings in the celebrity world. Be it a friendship, a love match, a hobby, or even a secret parallel life (did you know Steven Seagal was a Police Deputy for 20 years before his A&amp;amp;amp;E reality show aired?), there is something enjoyable in the humility of realizing you&amp;#039;ve underestimated someone&amp;#039;s depth of personality and talent. I say all of this because until recently, I really didn&amp;#039;t know much more about author C.S. Lewis than his attachment to the popular Narnia Chronicles. I think I&amp;#039;d heard somewhere along the line he was deeply religious, but it wasn&amp;#039;t until a friend introduced me to one of his many philosophical exemplars\u2014The Four Loves (Harcourt Brace)\u2014that I realized just how misinformed it was of me to think of Lewis primarily as an author of young adult fantasy novels. 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the The Four Loves&amp;#039; first edition, yet its chapters articulating the four forms of love (Affection, Friendship, Eros, Charity) read as timely as any new release on the shelf.  The same can be said of another of Lewis&amp;#039; titles, The Screwtape Letters, a modern adaptation of which takes the off-Broadway stage tonight at the Westside Theatre in Midtown Manhattan. Originally published in 1942, Screwtape tells the story from the perspective of a senior demon in Hell (Screwtape, played brilliantly by Max McLean) as he epistemologically mentors a junior demon (Wormwood, whom we never meet) above ground in London. Through the reading aloud of their 31 letters, we watch as Screwtape rips deeper and deeper into his charge\u2014and ostensibly, all of us\u2014for not exploiting the weakness of man&amp;#039;s tendency to act hypocritically, yet live pridefully. Perhaps the most chilling line in the entire play is one delivered near the end when Screwtape muses on man&amp;#039;s false comfort in the gradation of sin: &amp;quot;The safest road to hell is the gradual one,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;The gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.&amp;quot; The 90-minute play, though incredibly acted and tempered in measure by hilarious wit (there&amp;#039;s even a dig at the fashion industry!), puts you in an emotional place somewhere between the moment you realize you&amp;#039;re no longer in love with someone and a soul-scraping therapy session. Hey, nobody said self-reflection was easy. First adapted by Marvel Comics in 1994, The Screwtape Letters was eventually adapted for the stage in 2006 by director Jeffrey Fiske and lead actor Max McLean. After acclaimed runs in New York City and Chicago, Fiske and McLean, along with Karen Eleanor Wight as Screwtape&amp;#039;s demon intern, Toadpipe, bring C.S. Lewis&amp;#039; classic cautionary tale back for another 8-week run. For tickets and showtimes, click here. \u2014Johanna Cox   C.S. Lewis, at his Oxford home in 1950; The Screwtape Letters&amp;#039; original cover art; McLean and Wight on-stage at the Westside Theatre Photos: Courtesy of Getty Images and Heron PR "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/culture/books/news/a4022/a-second-side-of-cs-lewis-in-the-screwtape-letters-745/>