Review - The Witch of Edmonton

The Red Bull Theater, those specialists in making Jacobean drama hip Without going hipster, have assembled an excellent company for Jesse Berger's vividly realized mounting of the 1621 rarity, The Witch of Edmonton.

Penned by the trio of Thomas Dekker, John Ford and William Rowley - who most likely never had contact With each other as each worked on different aspects of the intertwining plots - the drama of small-town scandal premiered a mere eight months after the real-life woman the title character was based on met her unfortunate demise.

In a piece that requires actors to believably play its heightened language, Charlayne Woodard excels With passion and pathos as Elizabeth Sawyer, a humble woman so tormented by her neighbors for being a Witch that she makes a pact With the devil to seek revenge. He comes in the form of a demon dog played With creepy finesse by Derek Smith, inventively dressed by Cait O'Connor in a costume that mixes spirit and canine. The commanding Andre De Shields is put to good use as her main tormentor and, in a small comic turn, the adorable Everett Quinton appears as both a frightened farmer and his wife.

But Satan isn't content With just frightening a handful of villagers. He also has his influence on a nice young servant, Frank (Justin Blanchard), who is being forced by his father to marry the heiress Susan (Christina Pumariega) when he's secretly wed to the maid Winifred (Miriam Silverman), who he believes to be carrying his child. Their plot to remain a couple results in the kind of bloodshed and tragedy that sent Jacobean audiences home With a smile.

Adam Green, as the innocent yokel who is the son of De Shield's character, brings in some comic warmth and Sam Tsoutsouvas, as Susan's anguished father, contributes dramatic highlights.

The densely-worded text is briskly presented on Anika Lupes' effective set, a dirt pit surrounded by wooden-planked pathways at its perimeter. O'Connor's earthy costumes and Peter West's dramatic lighting add to the deliciously grim moodiness of the production.

Photo of Derek Smith and Charlayne Woodard by Carol Rosegg.

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