Whistler in the Dark Joins Local Musicians For Caryl Churchill's Vinegar Tom

Whistler in the Dark Theatre continues its month-long exploration of Caryl Churchill's work with a staged reading of her 1976 play with music, Vinegar Tom, accompanied for this project by local musicians and artists who will re-imagine the music threaded through this acerbic and timely play.

Life was hard in the 17th century. In a time of social upheaval, class change and hardship among the poor, those living on the fringes of society scraped by through the mercy and forbearance of their neighbors. This balance is disturbed when a renowned witch-finder visits a rural farming village and the community finds a focus for its frustrations. When witchcraft exists in the minds of persecutor and persecuted, petty and everyday transgressions become hanging crimes.

Punctuated by music hall variety acts and live musical performances, Churchill's play uses mordant wit and biting political commentary to explore the prejudices and fears that we actively use to shape our lives. In Caryl Churchill's own words: “I wanted to write a play about witches with no witches in it; a play not about evil, hysteria and possession by the devil but about poverty, humiliation and prejudice...”.

In this staged reading with music, Whistler in the Dark will feature brand new arrangements of Churchill's songs by some of Boston's best young musicians. This re-invention and re-exploration of an established text is certainly not new to Whistler, who this fall hosted five other companies in a re-invention of Shakespeare's Hamlet entitled Something Rotten.

“We are so pleased to be able to use these Dark Day events to expand our pool of collaborators in the Boston community,” says Artistic Director Meg Taintor. “This fall we focused solely on reaching out to other emerging theatre companies, and it has been thrilling for us to expand that reach into the music scene as well.” Director Mac Young adds “I've loved handing off each one of these roles to an actor. It'll be a challenge getting such rich material on its feet within the constraints of a staged reading, not to mention throwing some live music on top, but believe it'll be a challenge that pays off for the artists as well as the audience.”

Vinegar Tom runs two nights only at the Factory Theatre: tickets are available online.

Featuring: Molly Allis, Melissa Barker, Veronica Barron, Greg Besun, Tara Christine Giordano, Lindsay Haynes Lowder, Ben Martin, Juliet Olivier, Shaw Pong Liu, Meg Taintor

Director: Mac Young

WHEN: January 29th and 30th at 7pm

WHERE: The Factory Theatre * 791 Tremont Street * Boston (off Northampton between Tremont and Columbus)

TICKETS: General Admission: $20; Students: $10

BOX OFFICE: www.whistlerinthedark.com/boxoffice.htm

For cast and crew bios, please visit www.whistlerinthedark.com

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