WITCH – REVIEW OF 2026 SOULPEPPER PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Witch is  fascinating play by Jen Silverman that gets a superb production by Soulpepper. The play has an interesting pedigree that goes back to a work produced in 1621 and written by three prominent playwrights of the era, William Rowley, Thomas Dekker and John Ford called The Witch of Edmonton (and no it is not about the premier of Alberta). It is an unwieldy play with three plots but Silverman has reworked it into a modern play with humour and drama.

Elizabeth Sawyer, the witch of the title, is a poor, mature woman who is shunned by her community because she is suspected of witchcraft. She is accused of being in league with the Devil and thus capable of evil deeds like making animals sick and dying. She is visited by Scratch, the Devil, who offers to take vengeance on all who mistreat her if she gives him her soul. Elizabeth is a reasonable woman who is in no rush to give her soul to Scratch but the two strike up an unlikely friendship. Tantoo Cardinal gives a terrific performance as Elizabeth. She exudes strength, sympathy and a splendid portrayal of the poor, social outcast.

At the other end of the social ladder, we have the wealthy and powerful Sir Arthur Banks (Oliver Dennis) whose son and heir apparent, Cuddy, is a feckless Morris dancer in love with Winnifred, a maid. She is in love and pregnant by Frank who is an ambitious servant trying to convince Sir Arthur to adopt him as a son and heir. 

Tantoo Cardinal and Nicholas Eddie in Witch, Photo: Dahlia Katz

The connecting link among all these people is the Devil who goes about his business collecting souls. He is a fascinating character, handsome, threatening and persuasive. Nicholas Eddie does a superb job in presenting the tall, handsome Devil who by turn casual and determined to achieve his end. He is also energetic, has a sense of humour and wants to succeed and get a promotion from a low-level soul collector to higher rank. All this Eddie brings out with consummate skill.

Thomas Mitchell Barnet as Cuddy is a dedicated Morris dancer who is not interested in land and wealth and is feckless enough to  give his soul to the Devil. Frank (Shawn Ahmed)  the ambitious servant, professes love for Winnifred when she tells him that she is pregnant and he marries her. We see the shallow and ambitious louse clearly in Eddie’s fine performance.  

Cuddy and Frank engage in a lengthy fight that is in fact a dance routine and comic fight jinks as much as anything with a surprise ending,

Heeyun Park as Winnifred spends most of the time running on and off the stage as Sir Arthurs yells orders at her. She does have an important scene with Frank and calls him to  account. Park gives us a sympathetic Winnifred and a character that is probably a victim of abuse.

The fine performances by the cast and the success of the production are the result of director Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster’s approach to the play. She adopts a vigorous, hyper-kinetic  style of acting and movement. She gets vigorous acting from the cast and the plot moves splendidly. The play has considerable humour especially from the marvelous Oliver Dennis  and Lancaster takes advantage of all of it.

The minimalist set consists of a lit concrete hole in the middle of the playing area that looks like a well, a large regal chair at one end and a bench and some furniture representing Elizabeth’s residence at the other end of the playing area.

Witch premiered in September 2018 in Glencoe, Illinois. The Witch of Edmonton was largely ignored until recently but it received an important production by the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as scholarly attention.

Soulpepper provides us with a superb opportunity to see Elizabeth Sawyer in a new light and be reminded of The Witch of Edmonton five hundred years after its first performance.
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Witch by Jen Silverman continues until March 1, 2026, at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 55 Tank House Lane, Toronto, Ontario. www.soulpepper.ca.