Witch, a musical about women throughout history who have been unfairly accused of being something they’re not, will make its world premiere at Creative Cauldron on April 12.
“This show was originally going to be about the Salem witch trials, and then researching beyond that, it just became bigger and bigger and bigger, and then Salem didn’t seem like the worst thing,” says Stephen Gregory Smith, one of the play’s creators, upon realizing that the musical should stretch beyond the 1600s and 1800s to modern day, where women are still killed for being “witches” in different countries around the world.
“It’s a play within a play,” Smith says of the work, which is set at a modern-day Women’s March and features a musical theater group—made up of actresses of all different ages and backgrounds, like Broadway star Florence Lacey, Helen Hayes Award winner Iyona Blake and Helen Hayes Award nominee Susan Derry—which shares compelling stories from multiple women. “The modern-day characters are fictional, but the stories that they highlight are real stories of women throughout history.”
Wanting to get an accurate perspective on being a woman and a woman’s place in society, Smith interviewed more than 50 women to write the piece, while his partner, Matt Conner, wrote the production’s musical elements.
“The music is the power punch of the piece. It ranges from country, to rock, to gospel, but it’s always appropriate to the story of the woman we’re highlighting,” Smith says.
Smith and Conner are no strangers to the theater world, as the pair have put forth a number of productions including The Turn of the Screw, Monsters of the Villa Diodati and Kaleidoscope. Their works have also been produced internationally.
“The issue is the pattern of social behavior that treats women who hold any kind of power or confidence as some kind of threat that needs to be held down,” Smith says of what he learned, and what he hopes the audience will also take away. “It’s not a political show, but a mindset of the feminine spirit and what culture does to it throughout time.”
“It’s really different than anything we’ve ever done, so we’re excited,” Smith concludes.
