Post by david on Oct 25, 2024 22:42:19 GMT
An historical play by Joanna Carrick based on real life events in 17th Century East Anglia - the Manningtree witch trial. When several babies suddenly die in infancy and other unexplained events occur, the story follows Susan Edwards, her husband Richard and witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins as they try to uncover the reasons for these events and the impacts of the witch trials on all those involved within the community.
A suitably atmospheric piece for this time of the year thanks to the candlelight design from David Newborn and the accompanying music from Matt Penson that fits in nicely within the smaller theatre at the SP. The claustrophobic feel of the auditorium works well with this piece, particularly during the Act 2 witch trial heightening the tension and emotion of the writing. With a run time of around 2hrs tonight - Act 1 ran for around 60 minutes and Act 2 slight shorter at 45 minutes, it is staged in the round meaning that you will as I found have periods where you see a lot of backs to people. I would advise sitting in the corners so you have a diagonal view of the stage to try and mitigate the blocked view.
As a piece of writing, it is well researched from Carrick and would be a great introduction to that particular part of history for school kids or anybody unfamiliar with that era. Though I would say if you are well versed in the history or seen Miller’s Crucible I don’t think this one would offer any new insights into that era and I certainly found it to be a very formulaic by the numbers piece of witch hunting writing. Whilst dealing very well with the personal drama, I would have liked a bit more insight into the trials themselves which appeared rushed.
I certainly found the cast of 4 to be very watchable and with Nadia Jackson as Susan Edward’s was for me the standout of the quartet. A really powerful and intense performance heightened by the enclosed auditorium. The character arc of Matthew Hopkins firstly in Act 1 as a fragile and stuttering man to a determined accuser is a powerful one was played exceptionally well by Vincent Moisy. There is no doubt that the piece captures the change in the characters beliefs from absolute conviction into belief and region into self doubt about the horrors of their actions in the trials. Using East Anglian accents, I certainly thought they held up all night and I didn’t have any issues understanding them.
Having a read of early reviews, this one ranges from 2-3⭐️ which based on my visit would be a fair reflection on the play. I used a PAYG ticket for this and I would say I’d probably got enough out of this one for that price, but certainly I wouldn’t want to pay any more. There are no programmes for this, but there is a free colour handout available at the bar with cast / creative team info.
A suitably atmospheric piece for this time of the year thanks to the candlelight design from David Newborn and the accompanying music from Matt Penson that fits in nicely within the smaller theatre at the SP. The claustrophobic feel of the auditorium works well with this piece, particularly during the Act 2 witch trial heightening the tension and emotion of the writing. With a run time of around 2hrs tonight - Act 1 ran for around 60 minutes and Act 2 slight shorter at 45 minutes, it is staged in the round meaning that you will as I found have periods where you see a lot of backs to people. I would advise sitting in the corners so you have a diagonal view of the stage to try and mitigate the blocked view.
As a piece of writing, it is well researched from Carrick and would be a great introduction to that particular part of history for school kids or anybody unfamiliar with that era. Though I would say if you are well versed in the history or seen Miller’s Crucible I don’t think this one would offer any new insights into that era and I certainly found it to be a very formulaic by the numbers piece of witch hunting writing. Whilst dealing very well with the personal drama, I would have liked a bit more insight into the trials themselves which appeared rushed.
I certainly found the cast of 4 to be very watchable and with Nadia Jackson as Susan Edward’s was for me the standout of the quartet. A really powerful and intense performance heightened by the enclosed auditorium. The character arc of Matthew Hopkins firstly in Act 1 as a fragile and stuttering man to a determined accuser is a powerful one was played exceptionally well by Vincent Moisy. There is no doubt that the piece captures the change in the characters beliefs from absolute conviction into belief and region into self doubt about the horrors of their actions in the trials. Using East Anglian accents, I certainly thought they held up all night and I didn’t have any issues understanding them.
Having a read of early reviews, this one ranges from 2-3⭐️ which based on my visit would be a fair reflection on the play. I used a PAYG ticket for this and I would say I’d probably got enough out of this one for that price, but certainly I wouldn’t want to pay any more. There are no programmes for this, but there is a free colour handout available at the bar with cast / creative team info.
