Review: WITCH at Road Less Traveled Theater

With a penchant for the cutting edge and often obscure, Road Less Traveled Productions has programmed Jen Silverman's dark comedy WITCH in it's  regional premiere. Silverman is now represented on Broadway with the 2 person show THE ROOMMATE  with the unlikely duo of Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow.  This production of WITCH has all the makings of what should be a riveting production, but the script is not one for the ages.

Silverman's fashions a show that is anchored somewhere in Renaissance period (judging by it's costuming) in the town of Edmonton ("a semi rural town lost in the country"). The witch lives a secluded loner life in her hut, intolerant of the humans who glare and speak behind her back. A miserable young man (Cuddy Banks) lives with his father (Lord Arthur), who  sees little chance that Cuddy will ever marry and perpetuate the family line. The Lord aims instead aims to leave his estate to the  handsome  young  interloper Frank Thorney.  Cuddy and the Witch are  visited by Scratch, who  literally is the devil incarnate, who tempts them with selling their soles.

The unhappy witch is fed up with society and feels little need to look to the future and sustain a world that has no hope for happiness or for a stronger place for women.  Her witch represents all of the outcast who live on the life on the fringe, but who also have no aspirations for the future. Essentially, a life of doom.

Cuddy lives a life of unfulfilled dreams, closeted and unhappy with his father. Silverman uses the devices of anachronism and coarse modern language in an attempt to make this story feel more up to date. Instead, the laughs feel out of place and contrived. The characters are unlikeable and the secondary plot line of Frank secretly married to the maid makes that doomed relationship more evil than anything the devil himself could have devised. The dark themes of of  misery and existentialism often seem too lofty for a play that also stoops to crass humor.

The fine cast does it's noble best in bringing these odd characters to life. Christ Hatch gives a  nuanced performance as the devil, a smarmy letch who somehow finds love with the witch, and questions his own ability to carry out his job. Oddly his devil has poor organizational skills and is inundated with  all the forms and paperwork he has to fill out for his victims! Hatch lands the comedy, however shoe-horned it may be, but deftly handles his own emotional journey as he encounters his newfound feelings.

Elizabeth Sawyer as the Witch is beleaguered with contempt for the world and the worth of her own soul. Sawyer can be captivating as the slightly mad, unhinged self proclaimed witch. Saddled with doubt for the future of mankind, her interplay with Hatch stirred some sexual tension that made the two characters all the more interesting. 

Alex Anthony Garcia as Cuddy embodies a torments young man  who is primed to sell his  own tortured soul. Garcia's awkwardness played well against the soave and dashing Johnny Barden as Frank Thorney. Barden is slick in his conniving ways, tricking anyone who  gullible enough to fall for his guiles. A brilliantly staged fight between the two is expertly played out (Kudos to fight coordinator Shelby Converse). 

David Marciniak as Lord Arthur Cuddy is every bit the jolly Lord, in the style of Henry VIII. Marciniak convinces everyone of his intentions and decisions regarding his desire for a legacy, but again that script gets in the way! His soliloquy to his dead wife ends with an odd proclamation of how he has finally stopped dressing her in clothes. But why is he a cross dresser?

Renee Hawthorne is Winnifred, the maid servant of the manor who is secretly married to Frank and carrying his child. Hawthorne does fine work as the soon to be jilted wife who suffers abuse and insults at every turn. Her exasperation and despair were aptly portrayed.

Dyan Burlingame has outdone her itself in the highly detailed set, complemented by evocative lighting by John Rickus. The costumes are highly effective and detailed, designed by Collin Ranney.

Director Scott Behrend focuses the attention, trying to balance the darkness of this  Jacobean tale with the unexpected comic moments.  The overall effect left the audience pondering this story that  rarely balances it's more lofty themes with evil comedy. When a  devil and a witch fail to find common ground,  and the devil  ponders an existence without hope, the result is as unsettling as it is perplexing.

WITCH plays at Road Less Traveled Theatre though December 8, 2024. Contact roadlesstraveledproductions.org for more information

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