The Devil Has Met His Match

Witch – Writers Theatre

 

The townspeople are all convinced that Elizabeth Sawyer is a witch. She’s become the scapegoat for every bad thing that happens in Edmonton, a small suburb of Jacobean London. The petite Miss Sawyer, steadfastly standing tall, bathed in light, opens the play with a sharp, beautifully elucidated monologue. He words seethe with pain, sarcasm, loneliness and a need for hope. Elizabeth is a smart, but friendless woman, with whom, as theatergoers will learn by the end of this brilliant world premiere, the devil has met his match.

Loosely adapted by Jen Silverman from the Jacobean play, “The Witch of Edmonton,” this is the same playwright who gave us Steppenwolf’s two-handed summer offering, “The Roommate.” In Silverman’s 95-minute world premiere she offers a freshly told, thoroughly captivating and absolutely mesmerizing story of six individuals who are all hoping for something. Even the devil in this play, as cocky and confident as he appears to be, has his own aspirations. Employing contemporary dialogue and 21st century expletives and expressions, audiences can’t help but associate this need for hope with the current political and social climate. In spite of Mieka van der Ploeg’s stunningly beautiful, 17th century-inspired costumes, each character still feels startlingly familiar.

The story centers around Scratch, a devil trying to buy the souls from the citizens of a small town, in exchange for each individual’s greatest wish. Cuddy Banks hopes to be rid of hunky Frank Thorney, the peasant that his father, Sir Arthur Banks, has avidly taken into his castle as an adopted son. Frank, true to his greedy disposition, wants to trade his soul for the assurance that Sir Arthur will provide an inheritance that’ll guarantee him a bright future. Winnifred, Frank’s secretly pregnant wife, and Sir Arthur’s maid, only hopes, despite Frank’s unfaithfulness, to eventually be buried next to him in the family graveyard, so that they can spend eternity together. But Elizabeth, the witch of Edmonton, stuns the handsome, self-centered  Scratch by turning down all his offers. Despite her miserable, lonely life Elizabeth doesn’t want for anything. Or at least, that’s what she says.

Writer’s acclaimed director of “The Mystery of Love & Sex,” Marti Lyons brings this new comic drama to life, lifting it from the page to the stage, with eager confidence and clout. She guides her talented six-member cast with that same certainty as in her previous production, once again making no apologies for her characters’ straightforwardness or their succinct stories. She stages Ms. Silverman’s play in the 3/4 round, deep inside a fortress scenic design created by Yu Shibagaki, the artist who recently designed the fluid setting for Writer’s “Vietgone.”

Ms. Lyons’ cast brims with talent. Recently seen in Steppenwolf Theatre’s “The Doppelganger,” the always brilliant Audrey Francis is completely enthralling as Elizabeth. From her first monologue through each scene with the seductive devil, Ms. Francis is always completely in charge. With every subtle look and well-aimed barb of dialogue, Audrey Francis holds the audience in the palm of her hand. Ryan Hallahan, a standout in both “Posh” at Steep Theatre and “Straight White Men” at Steppenwolf, is honest, engaging and easygoing as Scratch. He plays the devil with command and confidence until he discovers that he’s fallen in love with his most reluctant victim. It’s then that Scratch realizes he that doesn’t understand how to take “no” for an answer. 

David Alan Anderson makes his Writers Theatre debut as Sir Arthur Banks, a royal widower who wants to insure that he has an heir to carry on the family name. When it doesn’t appear that his true son, Cuddy, will be providing a grandchild, he places his bet on Frank, the destitute young man he’s adopted. Anderson’s Sir Arthur holds conversations, when alone, with the portrait of his deceased wife. It’s in this scene where we see the real Sir Arthur. Jon Hudson Odom, also new to the Writers stage, is Frank, the testosterone-fueled young serf, whose one hope is to become Sir Arthur’s legal heir. Filled with animal magnetism and swagger, Odom overflows with ambition and confidence. Winnifred, the woman with whom he’s secretly married, is played with care and courage by Arti Ishak. Appearing earlier at Writers Theatre in “Buried Child,” Ms. Ishak again brings an abundance of strength and determination to this young woman, a character with a secret mission.

One of Chicago’s finest, most versatile young actors, Steve Haggard is superb and spellbinding here as Cuddy Banks. A master of the subtle turn-of-phrase, this terrific actor will be remembered at Writers Theatre in “The Importance of Being Earnest.” A gifted artist, Mr. Haggard’s talents have been enjoyed all over Chicago, at theatres like Red Orchid, Steppenwolf, Northlight and TimeLine. In the role of a sensitive young man who only wants his father’s love, Haggard underplays Cuddy’s neediness, burying his sexual desires deep inside until he can no longer hide them. In his brutal fight with Frank, skillfully choreographed by Matt Hawkins, Cuddy begins by enjoying the closeness with the man he both loves and hates. But as the combat becomes more intense, Cuddy realizes the stakes have been raised, and it soon becomes a battle for his life. In Mr. Haggard’s final scene, Cuddy, whose only creative outlet is Morris dancing, performs a sensitive solo (beautifully choreographed by Katie Spelman), that’s filled with passion, anguish and sorrow.

Jen Silverman confirms why she’s a playwright to be taken seriously. Her work ranks up there with the very best, as illustrated by her two recent Chicago productions. In her adaptation of this little-known Jacobean drama, Silverman’s brought new life to an old story from four centuries ago. With just a few twists, the elimination of several superfluous characters and by updating the language to today’s vernacular, the playwright has created a mesmerizing one-act drama that’s filled with unexpected humor and feels as contemporary in theme as today’s headlines.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas        

         

Presented September 26-December 16 by Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe, IL.

Tickets are available at the box office, by calling 847-242-6000 or by going to www.writerstheatre.org.

 

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.