Huntington Announces WITCH Cast And Creative Team

The Huntington announces the cast and creative team of its second production of its 40th anniversary season, the dark comedy Witch by Jen Silverman, directed by Rebecca Bradshaw, running from October 15 to November 14, 2021 at The Huntington's Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. Running time of the show is 90 minutes with no intermission.

As an unmarried woman who keeps to herself in a small village, Elizabeth Sawyer is branded a witch and an outcast by the locals, blamed for everything from bad harvests to sick cows and colicky babies. When an alluring devil named Scratch arrives in town, promising to make the residents' darkest dreams come true in exchange for their souls, he expects Elizabeth to be an easy mark, but finds her intriguingly resistant to both his charms and his offer of sweet revenge.

Scratch has better luck, however, in seducing the souls in the neighboring castle of Sir Arthur Banks, the biggest landowner in town, where Sir Arthur's somewhat sensitive son Cuddy and an ambitious peasant Frank Thorney vie for Sir Arthur's affections and inheritance, while servant Winnifred makes plans of her own.

Loosely based on the Jacobean play The Witch of Edmonton written by William Rowley, Thomas Dekker and John Ford in 1621, Silverman's Witch was commissioned by Writers Theatre in Chicago where it premiered in 2018, and was subsequently produced at The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles in 2019.

While the action in Witch takes place in the 17th century with period sets and costumes, the play itself has witty dialogue with a contemporary vernacular and modern sensibility. The play's timely themes around gender roles and biases in society will resonate with contemporary audiences.

"Witch is a play about a woman who is presented with an opportunity," says playwright Jen Silverman. "When I started writing it, I was interested in the question of how one can affect change - do we have any hope for change if we're operating within the existing systems, or do we have to destroy everything and start over?"

"My favorite plays are stories with characters behaving badly," says director Rebecca Bradshaw, who departed The Huntington's artistic staff in July 2021 to become the producing artistic director of the Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY. "Witch explores who has power, who has status, and what you might be willing to sacrifice for the sake of your soul."

The cast of Witch features, in alphabetical order:

• Barzin Akhavan (he/him) as wealthy landowner and patriarch Sir Arthur Banks; credits include Network on Broadway, Macbeth Off Broadway, and the films Funny Face and The Jew of Malta.
• Lyndsay Allyn Cox (she/her) as Elizabeth Sawyer, an independent woman branded as an outcast and a witch by the locals; credits include a Dream Boston audio play for The Huntington, Bright Half Life (Actors' Shakespeare Project) and Three Musketeers (Greater Boston Stage Company).
• Gina Fonseca (she/her) as Winnifred, a servant in Sir Arthur's castle who has a special connection with Frank; Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (workshop premiere, Off the Grid Theatre Company).
• Javier David Padilla (he/him) as the ruthless peasant Frank, who seeks to rise in his station by pursuing both Sir Arthur's approval and fortune; credits include Romeo and Juliet (Classical Theatre of Harlem), A Doll's House (Signature Theatre), and The Rocky Horror Show (Artist Repertory Theatre).
• Nick Sulfaro (he/him) as Cuddy Banks, Sir Arthur's sensitive son who wants nothing more than to continue his morris dancing; credits include Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George and A Little Night Music at The Huntington, and numerous appearance in Boston at New Rep, Greater Boston Stage Company and others.
• Michael Underhill (he/him) as the devilishly charming Scratch who offers the villagers their deepest desires in exchange for their souls; credits include Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Man in the Ring, and a Dream Boston audio play for The Huntington, and many appearances with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (The Tempest, Othello, Richard III, Cymbeline).

The all-female design team of Witch includes scenic designer Luciana Stecconi (she/her; A Wind in the Door at The Kennedy Center Theatre For Young Audiences and Oil at Olney Theatre Center); costume designer Chelsea Kerl (she/her; Pass Over at SpeakEasy Stage/The Front Porch Arts Collective, and Greater Good at Company One/ART); lighting designer Mary Louise Geiger (she/her;Top Girls, Venus in Fur, Invisible Man at The Huntington), and sound designer Melanie Chen Cole (she/her; The Ohio State Murders at Goodman Theatre, Mrs. Harrison, Tuesdays with Morrie at Indiana Repertory Theatre).

The choreographer is Misha Shields (she/her), and the fight director and intimacy coordinator is Ted Hewlett (he/him). Rosalind Bevan (she/her) is the assistant director, Pascale Florestal (she/her) is the dramaturg, and Jazzmin Bonner (she/her) is the line producer. Kevin Schlagle (he/him) is the production stage manager and Sam Layco (she/they) is stage manager.

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