If you ever thought there was one subject you wouldn’t see turned into a comedy for school aged actors, the Salem Witchcraft Trials might come to mind. Well, Roberta Weiner’s Prana just broke that barrier. 26 young thespians presented a dizzingly funny rewrite of that tragic event in Massachusetts history. Performed at Christ the King Church Friday and Saturday, June 14 and 15, this hour long play turned commonly held beliefs about witches and immorality on their heads.
As the prologue narrators (Morgan Fetrow and Cleo Gimourginas) explain, history often blames the girls, but overlooks the fact that the men in charge of the theocracy had their own motives, namely, jealousy, greed and power, for inflaming the hysteria. The Reverend Perris (Timothy Condor) who holds great sway over the populace, bemoans “Why must life be so hard for me?” to great laughter. “Let’s point fingers!” gets another big laugh. To spoof the concept that women who don’t go to church enough, live away from the village in the woods and collect herbs must be evil, there are three girls who play the witch stereotype with black hats, dramatic markings and ghoulish dress as two witches and a wizard. (Lexi Chek, Makayla Kemmerer and Scarlett Hemming) They even stir a cauldron, quoting MacBeth.
The doctor, Dr. Griggs (Alex Thomas) is shocked to be accused of diagnosing witchcraft, “so that I might profit from it and because I’m tired and confused and I love coin so much I’d lie to get more of it.” Here, Abigail (Maggie Mulik) speaks some dangerously blasphemous words, and they are “cumbergroundly fopdoodle.” Rebecca Nurse (Violet Guernon) speaks sweetly for calm and love. But Thomas Putnam (Graham Lemieux) keeps comically accusing the Porters, a family who never even appears in the play. Mary Warren (Ruby Smith, doing a fine job on crutches) tries to explain how she, a maid, came to be involved in this. The Magistrate (Gwen Rosen) calls herself “John Hathorne slash John Corwin” and welcomes “ye to these Salem witch trials trademark” while then adding without a note of sarcasm, “we are here for the children.” Ann Putnam, Jr. (Rosie Foley) is the one girl who affects a mysterious, creepy charm. But most are condemned for no logical reason at all, much like with the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland screaming “Off with their heads!”
The most profound speech is given by Bridget Bishop (Claire Nielsen.) Moving into the present, she sees that the Salem of today has a monument to those who were so unjustly killed in the hysteria of the 1600s, which she finds in a quaint little backstreet. But it is dwarfed by a huge Walgreens nearby. Inside the Walgreens, she is aghast to see that on the very spot she was starved and spat upon and screamed at and climbed a ladder to the gallows for being a witch, there are now masks and countless costumes available of ugly and warty nosed witches, and sexy witches for which she has no understanding. Outside party goers revel in witch attire. She asks,”What is this? Why is this? Did the witches win? Everywhere I turn that which I was murdered for is celebrated.”
But the comedy returns with a twist in the plot and some amazing dancing. As always these children, none older than seventh grade, have pulled off a magical piece of theater. Roberta Weiner offers the kids a wacky look at real, relevant history, while being sure they enjoy themselves. To see girls and boys in Pilgrim costumes doing a kick line was sheer delight.
