Talk About Temptation
What do you think of when you hear the word “witch”? Do you think of Glinda, or the Wicked Witch of the West? Maybe three old ladies cackling over a cauldron, or riding on broomsticks. There have been so many portrayals of witches over time. And one of these portrayals is the outcast woman who is knowledgeable with herbs and ignores all the rumors everyone whispers about her. This is the type of “witch” we see in the show Witch. Just a woman who lives on the outskirts of society, who has been through so much in her life, and can’t be bothered to care about what others say about her.
Witch is two stories woven together by common threads and backstory. I will say from the start, it was masterfully written. Even the stage is set up for these two stories. On one side is Elizabeth (an outcast) and her hut. On the other side of the stage is the castle of Arthur. We see two separate worlds on stage. At first, the only thing that seems to be what joins the worlds is Scratch…the devil. He’s successfully tempting Cuddy, the king’s son…and Frank, the king’s ward. And he thinks Elizabeth should be easy, as everyone says she’s a witch, but she has a little more up her sleeve.
There was so much in this play, and it hit so many points. We got to see things like gender roles, and class differences. We got to see good, and bad…and how there’s an in-between, but sometimes, something completely different. Elizabeth is an outcast in the village, and honestly, I assumed she was a witch…but her character had so much depth, it’s clear she’s just a different type of woman, living out on the outskirts of society. More importantly, we see Scratch. He’s working hard at his job to collect souls, but he can’t convince Elizabeth to sell hers. And she’s probably the one he wants the most.
How the class system was addressed was extremely interesting. Everyone falls somewhere on the spectrum, but the most important case was Frank. He was born a farmer, extremely lower class, but Arthur took him under his wing and gave him all the things he could only dream of. And while Frank was working hard to prove himself, Cuddy was working hard to not be an upper class man. All he wanted was to be a Morris Dancer…and his name. It was heartbreaking to see him, Frank, and Arthur fight over that. When Frank gets everything, Cuddy just wants his name.
Along with class, there’s the whole idea of love and relationships. And more importantly, forbidden love. We definitely see a lot of that in Witch. It’s a lot of beautiful strings pulled. We see people in love with others that they really can’t love. I think the most powerful one is Elizabeth and Scratch. I think Scratch wants Elizabeth in so many ways. At first, he just wants her soul. But then he begins to develop different feelings for her. It was complex, and it was intense. Sometimes we want everything we can’t have, no matter how hard we try to get it. Scratch and Elizabeth both wanted different things, but you can also see how they come together.
Relationships are one thing, but being yourself is another thing entirely. Cuddy didn’t want much from his life, but he was invisible to his father. Elizabeth had gone through so much in her life, but she ended up as an outcast, invisible most of the time until someone needs something. These are people that are struggling to be seen. Elizabeth is labeled a witch for it. Cuddy is shunned by his father. Winifred, who has an important relationship with Frank, was just a servant in the castle. These people were cast aside. They were invisible, and it was devastating to see that. I honestly walked away from Witch wishing they got what they actually deserved.
I think my favorite thing about Witch was the dark humor that we got to witness throughout the show. Scratch isn’t honestly the best at his job. Elizabeth is her own person, and it gives her power. She turned that into humor. The storyline with Cuddy, Frank, Arthur, and Winifred was hilarious, even though it shouldn’t have been. Again, this is masterful writing, and one of my favorite things about the whole play. I wanted to laugh, but then it turned into a sort of, “Oh fuck, should I be laughing right now?” The answer is yes, by the way.
There was so much about Witch that I absolutely loved. I loved everything about it, honestly. It was an incredible play, with incredible actors that worked super well together. The characters were really intense, and the entire ensemble really portrayed that, as well as the dark humor I mentioned above. I feel like I hated the characters I was supposed to hate, and loved the characters I was supposed to love…and yet, those lines were blurred so many times during the play that I walked away from it being a little uncertain. And I absolutely loved this feeling. No one is just one thing. There are personality nuances, there are ups and downs, and no one is clearly one thing or another. If I had to say I walked away from Witch with one thing…that would be it.
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