Well-paced, tightly wound ‘Witch’ smolders at American Players Theatre

Lindsay Christians, The Cap Times 

On Tuesday, Wisconsin will vote in a new slate of elected officials. Those who have seen “Witch” may have Elizabeth Sawyer’s voice in their head: “Do you have hope that things will get better?”

“I’m not arguing for the end of the world,” Elizabeth says at the opening of “Witch,” a play named for what the townspeople of Edmonton call her under their breath. “Then again, maybe I am. This one, anyway.”  

The struggle to find hope in a world of jealousy, isolation and cruelty is a throughline in Jen Silverman’s 2018 drama, now onstage at American Players Theatre on the indoor Touchstone stage. “Witch” runs through Nov. 22.  

Directed by Keira Fromm, “Witch” is funny and quick, with smart, contemporary dialogue. Alongside the humor, it’s rare to see anxiety depicted so vividly, as the existential malaise of some of these characters echoes our own.

For “Witch,” Silverman drew inspiration from the Jacobean play, “The Witch of Edmonton,” written in 1621, about a devil who appears as a dog and a lonely woman who makes a deal with him to get revenge on her neighbors. Silverman gives the story an anti-capitalist spin, casting the devil as a junior salesman, Scratch, who smolders into town to make swaps for souls.

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