Witch Director’s Notes
Would you be willing to give up your soul in an attempt to end this world in hopes of a better one? Quite the provocative statement, but this is at the heart of Jen Silverman’s sharp and inventive retelling of a Jacobean drama. I was very taken by this story when I read it last spring. Very rarely do I find myself having a visceral response while reading a play as I did with this one. It’s based on The Witch of Edmonton (written in 1621) which was a cautionary tale about a woman labeled as a witch and ostracized by her community. She is visited by the devil, and she sells her soul to him to get back at the people who hurt her. That play was a morality play that was more slapstick in its tone. There are remnants of the original version in this adaptation, but Silverman has made this play very modern in its feel and in its themes. Silverman’s adaptation is a quintessential dark comedy that deals with politics, classism, gender issues, despair vs. hope, and what it means to feel invisible. But it’s also a love story on a certain level.
What I have always loved about the theatre is that it holds a mirror up to society to reflect back the truth. Sometimes that truth can feel wonderful and hopeful and other times it can feel murky and full of despair. At its best, great theatre will lessen the distance between people's hearts to allow for change and transformation. And as we move through the 21st Century, it becomes clearer and clearer that we need something to happen that will allow for real and palpable change, as all we seem to keep doing is rehashing the same old issues over and over again.
As you leave the play, ask yourself this one question: Do you have hope that things can get better? And, if you answer no, then what would you be willing to give up to see the change that we so desperately need?
-Steven Marzolf
