Max McLean

Max McLean is founder and artistic director of Fellowship for Performing Arts, a New York City-based producer of live theater from a Christian worldview. McLean conceived, adapted, produced and starred in The Screwtape Letters, a play based on the book by Oxford scholar, author and fantasy writer C.S. Lewis. His stage adaptation of Lewis’ The Great Divorce launched its national tour in late 2013. McLean also is the narrator of The Listener's Bible.

Early life

Born in Panama City, Panama, on April 14, 1953, McLean migrated to the United States at age 4. McLean graduated from the University of Texas in 1975, where participation in theater helped him overcome a fear of public speaking. He then pursued theatrical studies in London.

Early career

McLean’s interest in integrating art and Christian faith led him to produce one-man shows based on the biblical books of Genesis, Acts and Mark. He received the 2009 Jeff Award in Chicago for Best Solo Performance for his one-man show Mark’s Gospel.

Fellowship for Performing Arts

In 1992, McLean formed the non-profit Fellowship for Performing Arts. The organization’s first output was a recorded New International Version of the New Testament voiced by McLean. With the Old Testament added, that became The Listener’s Bible, which eventually included English Standard and King James versions. The New International Version of The Listener’s Bible was recorded in 1997 and rerecorded in 2003 and 2011. The English Standard Version was recorded in 2003 and the King James Version in 2006. McLean’s narrations have received four Audie Award nominations from the Audio Publisher’s Association. FPA also helped produced Mark, Acts and Genesis in New York, Chicago and on tour in colleges and university across the country. A daily radio program followed that aired on 650 stations.

McLean and his production company now focus on new and adapted works for the stage. Following a well-reviewed off-Broadway run in 2010, The Screwtape Letters adapted with playwright Jeff Fiske toured nationally for four years. McLean’s production of C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce adapted with playwright Brian Watkins, had a developmental production in New York City in September 2013; premiered in Phoenix, Ariz., in December of that year; and toured nationally in 2014.

For the 2016/2017 theatre season, McLean returned to the stage as Screwtape in The Screwtape Letters from 17 to 27 November at the Pearl Theatre (New York City). Max McLean then took Screwtape to London for its UK debut from 8 December through 7 January. All of the London shows sold out. His latest new production, Martin Luther on Trial debuted at the Pearl Theatre in New York in December 2016 and ran in New York through the end of January 2017. Martin Luther on Trial is a critical look at the Christian reformer through the eyes of modern witnesses such as Sigmund Freud, Adolph Hitler, Martin Luther King, and Pope Francis. Its release was timed with the 500th anniversary year of Luther's 95 Theses which was published in 1517. "Martin Luther on Trial" will go on the road in the USA in the Summer and Fall of 2017.

During the Spring of 2017, McLean portrayed C.S. Lewis in a play about Lewis' conversion to Christianity named for and based in part on David C. Downing's book, The Most Reluctant Convert.

In the Fall of 2017 the Fellowship for the Performing Arts will premier a new production of Shadowlands, the love story between C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman inspired by Lewis' book, A Grief Observed.

Personal life

McLean is married to Sharon Bush McLean, and they have two grown daughters and four grandchildren. They live in New York City.