EDINBURGH 2018 - Review: HEAVEN BURNS, Assembly Roxy

In 1662 Morayshire, Isobel Gowdie works for zealous and ruthless witch-pricker John Dixon, torturing suspected witches into confessing their crimes.

When a ragged man appears, claiming to be the real John Dixon, and that the witch-pricker is a disguised woman named Christian Caddell, Isobel must reconsider the figure in whom she has placed her trust and affection.

A dark and unsettling piece based on a true story, Heaven Burns is the 2018 winner of the Assembly Roxy Theatre Award, which exists to support new Scottish writing and bring some of the cream of the crop to wider attention at the Fringe.

It is often too easy to forget, with its international scope and Londoner talk of "going up" to Edinburgh, that the Fringe also showcases quality homegrown Scottish work, and luckily this piece offers a reminder that Edinburgh is a centre for culture year round.

The three characters here are well drawn, with Marion Geoffray's Isobel a particular highlight, convincingly conflicted as the plot unfolds. Andrew Findlater cuts a sympathetic figure as the good-natured Dixon reduced to a vagabond by Caddell's supposedly divinely orchestrated machinations. Caddell is utterly self-assured throughout, even as the audience and Isobel in tandem begin to see the zealot's well-laid plans unravel.

On this occasion, the actress playing the leading role of Christian Caddell was unfortunately indisposed and unable to perform. Writer/director Jen McGregor stepped in at short notice and audience members were very vocal afterwards that the sudden understudy did nothing to diminish the piece.

The standard 60 minute running time of Fringe shows is perhaps a little of a constraint here, as with a slightly longer running time, more of the real Dixon's character could be explored and the piece allowed to breathe a little more at key moments.

Nevertheless, while it may be a 450-year-old story, the narrative sustains your interest throughout, and Heaven Burns's issues of gender and religious fundamentalism are certainly contemporary. Indeed, its portrayal of a gender non-conforming individual several centuries ago seems particularly timely with recent controversies over the erasure of queer figures from history, such as the Anne Lister plaque.

A dark and gripping tale of power, obsession and belief, this is a strong story and a slick production, well worth seeking out.

Heaven Burns is at Assembly Roxy until 27 August (not 14)

Photo Credit: Chris Scott

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