REVIEW: Burn, Witch, Burn
There are two longish monologues in this play: one at the very beginning which acts as an exposition, the other closer to the end, kind of rounding things up. Other than those two moments of lucidity you will be at great pains to work out what exactly is going on.
Writer, Tasnim Hossain, director, Claudia Osborne, and the five cast members have collaboratively adapted, at least conceptually, the story from a 1962 British horror film, The Night of the Eagle, later renamed Burn, Witch, Burn. The film, in turn, was an adaptation of a 1943 novel, Conjure Wife. The costumes suggest the play is set in the 1960s.
It’s hard not to be impressed by the set when you first walk in. Large white sheets are draped over the walls, over props and across the entire floor, creating a cosy but creepy room. Stage lights are placed at various heights on metal poles. It is dimly lit and a non-musical drone-like sound is playing.
The five actors walk in and position themselves around the set, one character climbing a ladder to sit atop a ledge. Actor, Alex Packard, in a three-piece brown suit, steps up to a standing microphone and in a soft, stilting delivery, relates the tale of Norman, a university psychology professor and renowned skeptic, who discovers his wife, Tansy is engaging in supernatural practices. Packard reveals more plot before he suddenly stops and steps into character as Norman. We get a confrontation between Norman and Tansy (Alex Stamell), some interactions from other characters (played by Tivy Siripanich, Sheree da Costa and Daniel Gabriel), and that marks the end of conventional theatre for this play. Things get really weird.
What happens on stage is abstract and confusing. There appears to be an attempt to tell a story but they sure are going about it the hard way. If this was interpretive dance or had elements of magic or circus, then you could at least appreciate the spectacle, but instead it is tediously slow, inexplicable activity. In fact, people weren’t even sure that the play had finished.
There are some genuinely humorous moments so maybe if you’re into theatre of the absurd you’ll enjoy this.
