Crowds flocked to the Frances Frazier Comstock theatre to see “Witch” presented by the Concordia Theatre Department on Oct. 10-13. After weeks of rehearsal, the production was ready for audiences.
The show officially sold-out Thursday, Oct. 10. Unfortunately, many people who booked the tickets couldn’t make it to the show, leaving over 30 seats open before people on the waitlist occupied them.
Kyra Jarett, a first year who played Winnifred, a castle maid, said, “I was shocked! I know that the black box theatre doesn’t have a lot of seats, but seeing the words ‘sold out’ was mind-blowing to me. When I saw a text message in the group chat saying the show was sold out, I was like, ‘what?’ It was very shocking to me.”
The play was brought together in just under 6 weeks. Rehearsals started on Sept. 2, shortly after a 2-day audition process. The actors were tasked with not only familiarizing themselves with their characters, but also connecting with each other’s performances in that time.
“Lots of inside jokes. The amount of inside jokes that happened at play practice was insane. It was a good connection and gave us at least one thing in common. Knowing that we had that one set foundation was pretty good,” said Kyra Jarett.
Many of the actors dug into the script in order to deliver stellar performances. Carlos O’Ryan, who played Scratch, the devil, said, “For being the Devil, he is a delightfully three-dimensional character, so it was a lot of fun looking into all of the details that the playwright sprinkled into the script, in order to build out his character in my mind.”
“Witch” was uniquely staged in the round. A play being in the round means the audience surrounds the stage instead of being on one or two sides.
David Wintersteen explained the reason behind this decision: “One of the interesting things that happens when you produce a play in the round is the audience can see the audience. We get an engaged audience. The audience is reminded of the theatricality rather than getting lost in the illusions.”
The set, designed by Christian Boy, hung over and immersed the audience into the Jacobean world of “Witch.” Another idiosyncrasy added to the show was the use of hot pink. Although the play is set hundreds of years ago, there were modern elements added to costumes that were the color pink.
Many audience members, especially those in the theatre department, showed support for “Witch” by wearing pink. This fun activity confirmed what the actors wanted audiences to take away from the show.
“Don’t take life too seriously. I mean if you can sell your soul to the devil or something like that, then life must not be that serious,” said Jarett.
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