By Madyson Muresan
Arts & Culture Editor

Pride, greed, envy and wrath — these are four of the seven deadly sins humanity is plagued with throughout history and this play. 

“Witch”, by Jen Silverman, follows a dual narrative tying in four different deals made with Scratch, the embodiment of the devil, played by Orion Moss. It encapsulates topics such as patriarchy, social hierarchy, forbidden love, economic inequality and morality. However, the prevailing theme of the play is hope. 

Hoping for the best, hoping for the worst, hoping even when it is all hopeless and hoping when the end is in sight with all the cards stacked against you and you just went all-in. All that the characters can really do is hope and yearn for a better future for themselves, but find the world against them.

Scratch and Banks seated discussing their deal as Scratch sips a drink. Photos by Jackson Arterberry.

The first deal is made with Cuddy Banks, played by Finn Osejo, the disappointing heir to a large fortune who sells his soul for the death of Frank Thorney, played by Logan Reichert. Thorney sells his soul second in order to gain the large inheritance promised to Banks. 

Banks’ very existence seems to be a roadblock for practically everyone he is involved with. His relationships are all, to say the least, complicated and add an interesting puzzle for the audience to decipher. His feelings towards Thorney are foremost wrathful and menacing and secondarily admirative and loving.

The Banks family having a lively conversation at the dinner table. Left to right: Dylan Guy as Sir Arthur Banks, Logan Reichert as Frank Thorney and Finn Osejo as Cuddy Banks.

His father, Sir Arthur Banks, is a whole other story. They evidently have a clear familial love for each other with Banks doing anything to be considered Sir Arthur’s son and Sir Arthur constantly worrying for his son, trying to do best by him. Sir Arthur, troubled with the sexual orientation of his son and the reality of him never producing an heir, brings Thorney into his household and treats him as a sort of adopted son, planting the seed of hatred in Banks.

Thorney is introduced to us as a prideful, greedy, manipulative man who rose to his distinction in society through the constant flattery of Sir Arthur. Self-aware of how Sir Arthur views him, Thorney takes full advantage of that and takes the opportunity to trade his life of poverty for one of prosperity. 

Sir Arthur lifting up Thorney in a hug.

The rivalry between Banks and Thorney propels the whole plot with the threat of losing his father’s name driving all of Banks’ actions, and the opportunity to gain greatness through Banks’ inheritance, driving all of Thorney’s. Their rivalry is complicated with a multitude of unearthed secrets and messy relationships perpetually pulling them together. 

Osejo’s raw emotion while portraying the evolution of Banks is striking and potent, leaving a thick tension lingering onstage after any one of Banks’ several monologues. The characters’ jumbled and bipolar feelings all cultivated into one major episode towards the end of the play that left me with my eyes glued unblinkingly to Osejo’s face as they showed such a convincing mental decline it made me worry for them.

Winnifred delivering her last monologue with Sawyer featured in the background.

Enter Winnifred, played by Bailey Fronk, a pragmatic servant in Sir Arthur’s household who is married to Thorney in secret. This secret hangs over her character as she is tormented by her uncertain future and a husband who refuses to reveal the true nature of her existence in his life. 

Fronk’s depiction of Winnifred is deep and lively, her emotional delivery and expressive eyes draw the viewer into her shoes to feel the gravity of what Winnifred is troubled by. Her character is one of, if not the only character to truly give up hope in the end. This defeat is deeply felt through Fronk’s strong deliverance of Winnifred’s tearful final monologue.

Sawyer and Scratch discussing the possibility of Sawyer making a deal with Scratch.

The second plotline follows Elizabeth Sawyer, played by college employee Jennifer Jett, who is a self-described outcast and famed town witch. When Scratch comes to visit her and offer her revenge on all who have wronged her, she isn’t champing at the bit to accept his offer. Instead, she finds an unlikely friend in Scratch and the two continue to meet and evolve their friendship into something more. 

Scratch’s transformation is particularly noticeable throughout the play, with him first coming off as a pushy-salesman who views you more as a dollar sign than a person to a man in love who yearns to go against his nature and experience what is so far out of his reach.

It is worth noting that Jett, who plays Sawyer, is the only non-student in the show and is an administrative assistant in the communications department at CCC. This added detail made the romance between Sawyer and Scratch, who is played by a student at CCC, a hard watch. 

Scratch and Sawyer gazing into each other’s eyes.

The stage crew and set designers worked wonders with a moving set that made transitions between the two plotlines fascinating. This was a unique addition to the creativity of the theatre department at CCC. It was well crafted and an appealing draw to the show. 

“Witch” runs from February 26 to March 8, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m., and Friday, March 6, at 10 a.m. in the Niemeyer Osterman Theatre. Tickets are free for all CCC students.