Review: The Witch of Edmonton Swan Theatre, Stratford
Great actor, shame about the play. It was a privilege to see Dame Eileen Atkins, one of the finest performers of our time, stepping into the limelight at Stratford at the age of 80 and delivering a master class in spoken drama.
In an age when actors seem to strive to out-mumble each other, here was a word-perfect presentation of great clarity with every syllable as sharp as ice. It ought to be compulsory viewing at drama schools everywhere. Get it right, kids, and you too could have a 60-year career.
The play? It was written by William Rowley and others in 1621 as a docu-drama based on true events in Edmonton, near London, where a witch was denounced, tried and hanged.
Atkins plays the witch, Mother Sawyer, who is tempted by the Devil in the form of a black dog, played almost naked and with great gusto by Jay Simpson. While the witch is accused of causing diseases in animals and infidelity in a wife, there's real, serious crime afoot as a desperate bigamist Frank (Ian Bonar) murders one of his brides.
Both Mother Sawyer and Frank are executed. The difference is that Frank repents and is forgiven by everyone, while no-one laments the passing of just another witch, one of millions hanged or burned across Europe in the witch-madness which lasted from the 16th to the 18th century.
Greg Doran's production is fine, although the action fizzles out in the final minutes. But you have to ask why such a little-known play was chosen as a vehicle for such a fine leading lady.
By Peter Rhodes
