A devil of a good time: Soulpepper’s ‘Witch’ casts a spell with performances to die for, Canada Reviews

Witch, a new Soulpepper production, isn’t perfect, but it features incredible performances by actors new and legendary that elevate it to must-see theatre.

The play by Jen Silverman takes its cue from a real 17th-century case. In 1621, Elizabeth Sawyer, a poor, disabled woman living on the outskirts of London, was accused of witchcraft and executed after her neighbours—and even her husband—turned on her. Her trial became a public sensation, inspiring the Jacobean play The Witch of Edmonton later that same year.

Silverman’s adaptation takes that earlier text and, with a mix of comedy and tragedy, modernises it. Sawyer, played by iconic actor Tantoo Cardinal, is branded an outcast and a monster, but the play drills down asking questions about how it came to pass and what is says about the society back then and how the balance of privilege and power has never really shifted.

The play lives in two worlds, one rooted in early-modern England, and one, where Silverman puts a model spin on Witch. The playwright uses the old story to poke at contemporary anxieties—power, poverty, ambition, and the quiet despair of everyday life—without losing its sense of humour.

For a play about Satanic bargains and moral collapse, it’s tender and playful and heartfelt, suggesting that love, however warped or withheld, might still be the most radical force onstage and in our very-slow-to-change world.

Does it work? Mostly it is fantastic. At least, up until the ending. The performances were at a breathtakingly high level.

On the comedic side of the playbill, Thomas Mitchell Barnet as Cuddy Banks is a revelation. A graduate of the Soulpepper Academy, his performance infused the production with a wonderful energy. It was such a bold and brash performance that had the audience laughing at the slightest of gestures. But, it was so nuanced, and touching.

Another nod goes to Nicholas Eddie as the Devil. A complicated performance, that puts humour front-and-centre in a somewhat cliched bargain-with-the-devil way, but Eddie works hard to push beyond the boundaries of the role to great effect both comedic and otherwise. He really shines when on stage with Tantoo Cardinal as Scratch, the “Witch.”

Here, the Devil tries to strike a bargain with Sawyer so she can exact her revenge on those who have wronged her. But, she is not as easily swayed as others in town who leap at the chance to get what they want and give up their souls. With Cardinal playfully denying the Devil another victim, he is disarmed and falls hopelessly in love with her.

Cardinal offers a wonderful performance full of mischief and mystery, and it’s wonderful to see her on a Toronto stage (more please).

Now the conclusion is where some minor problems arise. There is a sort of double ending. One that ends the main plot line of the Banks family and the elder Banks hoping for a heir that would produce a son and carry on the bloodline.When Sir Arthur Banks realises his son Cuddy might not be up to the task, he looks to his sort of adoptive son Frank Thorney. This is where the Devil does his handy work. And this plot line that also weaves in the house maid Winnifred (played by Park), pregnant with Thorney’s child. Although I won’t give away how this ends, it is an epic scene with full measures of comedy and tragedy.

What happens afterwards is almost anti-climactic. in the aftermath, Park visits the home of Sawyer searching for the Devil wanting to make her own bargain the results of which we are never made aware. And that leads to a passionate and moving speech by Sawyer about society’s failings and how we will never change. It is meaningful and modern and amazing to witness but felt almost out of the place in this play. And this is followed by a speech by the Devil where he tries to resign from his job and wants to find hope. Somewhere. Anywhere. Love has changed the Devil himself.

But with such a dramatic conclusion to the Banks’ story in the previous scene, it is almost like an epilogue. Both scenes are wonderful, one doesn’t belong.

Of course, it was wonderful up until that point. And, the rest of the six-person cast — Shawn Ahmed, Oliver Dennis and Heeyun Park — also give fine performances. Indeed, it is the talented cast that really elevates the production to the next level. In less capable hands, I am not sure the play would be such a success. Here, it is, most definitely worth seeing.

Witch runs at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts until March 1.