Wide-Ranging `Mark's Gospel' Rivets, Inspires

It's a familiar sight: a football player scores a touchdown or a baseball slugger hits a home run and then punctuates the moment with a finger thrust skyward.

I never quite know how to take that gesture, especially when the finger-pointer seems to consistently run afoul of Godly behavior. (Hey, nobody's perfect, we all fall short of the glory of God, but we don't all show up on the police blotter every six months.)

These thoughts flashed through my mind recently at the end of Max McLean's stirring one-man performance of Mark's Gospel, at The Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Ave. in Chicago.

The remarkably talented actor had concluded the presentation, and cheering audience members had collectively risen to their feet. McLean soaked in the accolades for a few moments, then pointed straight up before leaving the stage.

On the heels of his own crowning achievement--think grand slam home run times 99-yard touchdown run...and then some--McLean's motion was one that was refreshingly genuine and appropriate. He had just spent himself in communicating history's greatest and most important story, and McLean understandably knew that his wasn't, in truth, a one-man show so much as a show honoring the One.

That being said, Mark's Gospel holds broad appeal, whether you are an evangelical Christian or simply a fan of wide-ranging performances that seek to provoke emotion and thought. The two-hour, two-act play is complemented by a large PowerPoint-style map that provides the logistical context for the journeys that Jesus and his disciples took in his ministry en route to the cross.

In telling the story of Jesus, McLean, so wickedly good as Screwtape in The Screwtape Letters, the high level demon in hell, wields his magnificent voice, masterful interpretation and energetic theatricality.

Portraying scenes that are by turns compelling, maddening and hilarious, McLean humanizes what can so easily be dismissed as words on a page. And he does it with such seeming ease that you may be apt to forget that it's one man up there on stage, transforming himself, often in rapid-fire fashion, from one character to another.

“Jesus is certainly a controversial figure.” McLean says. “Yet he has been tamed by overfamiliarity. Bringing a theatrical lens to the original source for Christianity helps restores Jesus back to size. It is meant to surprise and delight. And I need to redeem myself for doing Screwtape these past few years.”

McLean and director Jeffrey Fiske, the producers of The Screwtape Letters, brought Mark's Gospel to the stage through Fellowship for the Performing Arts.

As they both were when my wife, Bridgett, and I saw Screwtape five months ago, McLean and Fiske were affable and engaging as they chatted with us after the performance.

My recommendation: see the show and stick around afterwards to dig even deeper with these talented artists. Time is running short, with Sunday, May 17th marking the final performance. The schedule is Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. with matinees on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

Tickets range in price from $29 to $48.50 and are available by calling The Mercury Theater Box Office at 773.325.1700, TicketMaster at 312.902.1500, or visiting www.ticketmaster.com.

Discounted tickets for students and groups of 10 or more are also available by calling 773.477.7666. For more information, visit MarkOnStage.com.

Max McLean Brings "Screwtape" To Life

I have a passion for reading books. With so many yet to be read, I rarely circle back and read the same book more than once. An exception is Mere Christianity, by the late, great, heavenly gifted C.S. Lewis.

To that short list of repeat reads I will soon add The Screwtape Letters, the 1942 Lewis book that catapulted him to literary renown.

When I first read Screwtape, about five years ago, I found it to be a richly told, insightful and, at times, hilarious look at an uncle-and-nephew demon team's efforts to snare the soul of a man in World War II England.

So when a friend from Harvest Bible Chapel organized a "date night" for couples last Friday night to see the current stage production of Screwtape, at the Mercury Theater in Chicago, I leapt at the chance.

The 90-minute show was tremendously, wickedly good. Max McLean, who has played the Screwtape role for about 200 shows, was a commanding, powerful presence. And his sidekick, Yvonne Gougelet, played his cat/secretary, Toadpipe, with remarkable energy. Without uttering an intelligible word, she communicated so such as she encompassed a wide physical range assisting Screwtape and embodying various personalities he conjures.

After the show, McLean (pictured with me) graciously fielded questions and shared insights about the process he undertakes to perform. The impromptu 15- to 20-minute Q and A with me, Bridgett, and a friend were almost as rewarding as the show itself.

Radio personality Mancow Muller was among those who attended the show, and I told McLean that Mancow was profiled by Cathleen Falsani in her excellent book, The God Factor.

Interestingly, Mancow had interviewed McLean for his show recently. At one point, off the air, McLean mentioned his own Christian "conversion experience" at 23 years old, he told me. Mancow, however, did not discuss his own Christian faith with McLean, the actor noted. Falsani outlines Mancow's spiritual side in The God Factor, and McLean was intrigued to check out the book, not only to read Mancow's journey but those of the many others profiled, spanning an array of faiths.

You can learn more about McLean at MaxMcLean.com and The Screwtape Letters' production at Screwtape On Stage.

This is an occasional blog on various musings and experiences. To read more about my professional work, visit the Inside Edge PR blog.