Witch
NOTE: Due to the Blarney Blowout, you may be asked to state your purpose on campus by parking staff, so please allow a few extra minutes for parking.
by Jen Silverman
Directed by Rudy Ramirez
Feb. 25, March 3, 4, 5 at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 26 at 2 p.m.
In the Rand Theater, located in the Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts at UMass
"What if there is something amazing ahead of us, and all we have to do is burn down everything we know to get to it?"
Based on a Jacobean play written when witches were still being burned across Europe, Witch follows a devil named Scratch as he plays with the desires, grievances and ambitions of two young men, only to see him shocked and intrigued when an outcast woman becomes the first to refuse his offer. Jen Silverman's play offers a collection of richly drawn characters all forced to confront how their desires are shaped by, and may even be able to do undo, the systems of power that limit them.
Content Advisory: Strong language, violence, and death
Tickets are $15 general admission, $5 youth, students, and seniors, and can be purchased in advance online at the Fine Arts Center Box Office or by calling 1-413-545-2511.
DEAR PATRONS: IF YOU HAD TICKETS TO THE FEB. 25 PERFORMANCE WHICH WAS CANCELLED DUE TO THE SNOWSTORM, YOU MAY EXCHANGE THEM FOR ANY OTHER PERFORMANCE OF WITCH. CHECK YOUR EMAIL FOR INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE BOX OFFICE, OR BRING YOUR FRIDAY TICKET WITH YOU TO EXCHANGE IT AT THE DOOR.
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COVID safety note:
Before you purchase tickets, please read our Patron COVID Safety Policy to ensure you are prepared. Patrons who are unable to meet the requirements WILL be turned away at the door. Although masking regulations are changing as the pandemic progresses, please note that UMass Theater, until further notice, WILL REQUIRE masks for all audience members.
Production Credits | Dramaturgical Notes
Production Credits
PRODUCTION TEAM
Director: Rudy Ramirez
Dramaturg: Percival Hornak
Scenic Designer: Anya Klepikov in collaboration with Mingyan Zhu, Anna Zaczek, Liz Zabat, William Waisnor, Isabella Vitti, Ethan Lewis, Roshan Kharbanda, Abigail Hare, Bobby Gaffney, Parker Fisher, Olivia Darling, Chenoa Albertson
Lighting Designer: Hyejung Kang
Costume Designer: Emily Irene Peck
Sound Designer: Eddie Pizzano
Fight Choreographer: Ryan Winkles
Intimacy Choreographer: Finn Lefevre
Stage Manager: Anika Nayak
Rehearsal Stage Manager: Sena Yacteen
Assistant Director: Benham Alibakhshi
Assistant Dramaturg: Jemma Kepner Assistant Costume Designer: Arianna Morales Assistant Sound Designer and Composer: Darrow Sherman Assistant Stage Managers: Walt Manasse-Latham
Production Manager: Julie Fife
Technical Directors: Michael Cottom, Chris Konstantinidis
Scenic Construction Director: Brandon Hall
Costume Shop Manager: Kristin Jensen
Lighting Supervisor: Michael Dubin
Sound Supervisor: Amy Altadonna
Directing Advisor: Gina Kaufmann
Dramaturgy Advisor: Chris Baker
Costume Design Advisor: Yao Chen
Lighting Design Advisor: Penny Remsen
Sound Design Advisor: Amy Altadonna
Stage Management Advisor: Julie Fife
Special thanks to: Bart Bales, Morris Dance Consultant
CAST
Elizabeth Victoria Lee
Scratch Parker Fisher
Cuddy Andre Meservey
Frank Mike O’Malley
Sir Arthur Andrew Bove
Winnifred Madeline Choiniere Barr
Understudy to Elizabeth and Scratch: Kaliska Wiley
Understudy to Winnifred and Sir Arthur: Hia Ghosh
Understudy to Cuddy and Frank: Nat Irmer
“Witch” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com “WITCH” was commissioned by Writers Theatre through the Literary Development Initiative, with the generous support of David and Mary Winton Green, and the World Premiere was presented at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, IL; Michael Halberstam, Artistic Director, Kathryn M. Lipuma, Executive Director.
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
Associate Production Manager: Pedro Eiras|
Assistant Production Manager: Lianna Fife Wiggall
SCENIC DEPARTMENT
Scenic Artisan: Carl Bridge
Master Carpenter: William Waisnor
Scenic Charge Artist: Carl Bridge, William Waisnor
Prop Master: Drishti Chauhan
Scene Shop Technician: Lindsey Barrett
Scene Shop Assistants: Emma Hagan, Jemma Kepner, Angela Kwebiiha, Arjun Misra, Kaliska Wiley Deck Crew: Aleen Karakouzian, Aaron Mancaniello
Run Crew Swings: Carolyn Ferris, Brendan O’Laughlin
LIGHTING DEPARTMENT
Production Master Electrician: Elana Peisner
Assistant Master Electrician: Olivia Darling
Lighting Console Programmer: Bobby Gaffney
Lighting Console Operator: Jemma Kepner
Graduate Assistant: Hyejung Kang
Electrics Shop Assistants: Tess Beckwith, Olivia Darling, Kaiden Elison, Bobby Gaffney, Abby Hare, Jemma Kepner, Anika Nayak, Sam Patterson, Elana Peisner, Sena Yacteen
361 Lab Participants: Itai Abramovich, Sofia Cerciello, Michael Donnelly, Doug Edwards, Rebecca Hicks, Roshan Kharbanda, Taylor Mickens, Michael O’Malley, Sophia Schweik, Darrow Sherman, Matthew Suchecki, Parker Traphagen, Sena Yacteen
SOUND DEPARTMENT
Sound Engineer: Eddie Pizzano
Board Operator: Jake Barrett
Sound Crew: Ethan Lewis, Julian Buitrago
COSTUME AND MAKE-UP DEPARTMENT
Assistant Costume Shop Manager: Felicia Malachite
Production Assistants: Malory Grillo, Chenoa Alberston, Emily Peck
Draper for Arthur Banks: Chenoa Albertson
First Hands: Sarah Strong, Andrea Zax
Stitchers: Taylor Lennon, Kristen Mahoney
Wardrobe Supervisor: Eloise Arnold
Dressers: Parker Traphagen, Rebecca Hicks, Brianna Countie
Hair and Makeup Supervisor: Malory Grillo
Hair and Makeup Run Crew: Ethan Tuttman, Anne Gallivan
PUBLICITY, HOUSE AND BUSINESS STAFF
Public Relations Director and House Manager: Anna-Maria Goossens
Associate House Managers: Natasha Hawkins, Anna Norcross
Archival Photographer: Derek Fowles
Poster Design: Fleur Kuhta
Box Office Managers: Arianna Morales, Roxanne Edel
House and Publicity Crew: Andrew Bove, Lindsay Forauer, Bobby Gaffney, Zachary Graczyk, Mary Henry, Preston Knecht, Claudia Maurino, Arjun Misra, Arnav Mohan, Jr Moreno, Kitty Ryan
Business Manager: Joanne Corbeil-Harper
Administrative Assistant: Bethany Sherwood
Department Chair: Harley Erdman
General Manager: Willow Cohen
Dramaturgical Notes
A Note from the Dramaturgs
by Percival Hornak and Jemma Kepner
Jen Silverman’s play explores our complicity in the ways we hurt each other in pursuit of what we want. WITCH asks us: how much agency do we actually have? How much control can we exert over what happens to us, or getting the things we want? What do we blame on things like witchcraft, the devil, or other forces outside our control? In WITCH, Elizabeth Sawyer asks us if we have hope that things can get better. Through its intertwining plots, WITCH asks us all to consider: what would you be willing to give up to make that hope reality?
The playwright, Jen Silverman (she/they) describes herself as a “playwright, nomad, and jelly-fish wrangler.”1 Silverman has gained a cult following and become a role model for the next generation of queer and feminist theatre-makers. Across all her works, Silverman creates characters and worlds that go beyond traditional feminist and queer narratives that are ripe with relevancy to the #MeToo movement, the rise of intersectional feminism, and the urgent need to question systems. These contexts make it all the more special for our community that UMass Amherst Theater is the first college to produce WITCH, Silverman’s latest play. Her most well-known plays include The Moors (2017), The Roommate (2017), and Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties (2018). In addition to playwriting, Silverman writes for TV and film, and is an accomplished novelist, having recently published We Play Ourselves (Random House, 2021). WITCH was commissioned in 2018 by The Writers Theatre and premiered at The Geffen Playhouse in 2019. The most recent production of WITCH occurred at The Huntington Theatre in October 2021.
To learn more about dramaturgy, Witch, and Jen Silverman, visit the UMass Dramaturgy Tumblr at https://umass-digiturgy.tumblr.com/ or scan the code at right:
