The Witch of Edmonton
Accused, outcast, and condemned. The Witch of Edmonton is a gripping 1600s drama about fear, injustice, and the scapegoating of women, based on the real trial of Elizabeth Sawyer. For Fringe 2025, a revival in modern Edmonton—Set under the backdrop of a Jacobean Whyte Ave, Old Strathcona arch, and Tom, a devilish coyote puppet.
The Witch of Edmonton is a wildly ambitious show that unfortunately doesn’t stick the landing. The opening moments are haunting and powerful, but the script quickly devolves into nonsense and cliches. Transitions between scenes were too long and the tree was awkward and poorly implemented.
The cast worked hard to deliver great performances, but ultimately they were let down by a rough script and cumbersome production.
The witch's prison speech is PERFECT!!! This is a dark, jagged, IMPORTANT piece of work. Based on historical events and brought back to life with a pertinent, timely message. Why do we vilify women for being free? Why are we more comfortable with femininity when it's corralled and controlled? Why do we dispose of femmes and females when they no longer serve us? These and many more difficult questions are confronted in this intense, intelligent drama.
The Witch of Edmonton was a very ambitious project. There were some set pieces that were very distracting. On the audience left there is a light at the top of the pillar that will be on the whole show and not sure of the purpose but felt the glare the entire time. There is also a tree in the middle with string lights also on the whole show though not as strong. But the most distracting was styrofoam bricks that were not sure of their purpose and would often be kicked by actors and just made terrible sqeaky noises.
There were also very long transitions between scenes which could be very distracting since the technician would have to make multiple trips and the cast would be in the dark while waiting for light or sounds to start a scene. There was also some transition with music and some without making the whole part more awkward.
I was also very confused by the time in which this play was meant to be in? Was it Modern Edmonton? But I know the play references was 1600 and it just left lots of confusion. The dialogue felt cliche and there were parts I laughed at when I knew that it was serious.
And at the end when the actors came on stage I was not sure if it was actually the end. The puppet was amazing the street scene of whyte ave so much details. Content warnings are correct.
This was a rough watch. As a whole, it was kind of nonsensical. Firstly, the premise was too ambitious for what ended up on stage; I understood the messages it was trying to send, but none of them landed effectively. The dialogue felt cliche and a few of the conversations felt word for word from a standard blockbuster. Characters were like dolls being moved in and out of scenes for no logical reason except to be convenient for the plot, which was sometimes so abrupt that audience members actually laughed out loud.
Most notably, the transitions were so so strange. They would take 30 seconds or longer, where only 2 techs seemed to be moving props offstage, which meant they had to keep coming back to the stage multiple times within one transition to take everything away. Not sure why actors weren't just taking pieces with them as they exited. Even better, some transitions would be complete, but the actors would sit in darkness for another 20 seconds waiting for the music to end and the lights to come back up.
The performances left a lot of room for improvement. One actor would smile during serious scenes for some reason?
I got distracted by the styrofoam bricks squeaking on the ground and the goofy tree dismantling. Some pieces of the set had a certain painted/sketchy style for no discernible reason, as that style disappeared after one scene. Otherwise, the set obviously had a lot of work put into it and I commend them for that.
The puppet was the visual standout, and what drew me to the show initially, but it left me wondering why it was necessary when it was barely used and hardly added new information or ideas in its dialogue.
The time period seemed to jump between modern day and the era of witch burnings. this must've been intentional, maybe to show the way these social issues persist and transcend time, but it ended up being muddled and confusing.
The Witch MADE ME Do It
The Witch of Edmonton is a captivating production blending history and the art of modern storytelling with the setting of the story being Jacobean Whyte Ave, Old Strathcona arch. Performers gave such raw emotion especially during the intense emotional scenes ( suicide warning on that one and also murder) and with the story being about choices, blame and those who suffer because of it.
The show is great and clearly the cast and crew worked hard to bring this show to life, though be aware this show is purely tension and hard choices not much humor to ease the intensity of the show. If you want to watch a production that is eye opening and emotionally intense this would be your cup of tea.