REVIEW: The Witch and The Whistleblower at The Glitch Theatre 8 – 20 April 2026
"Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he dwells by you for safety's sake.” (Proverbs 3:29) ★★★
There is a simple motto lying under this musical’s jilting music and the haunting yell of the town crier, aided by a set of movement pieces which admirably avoid The Glitch Theatre’s support pillars: look after your neighbours and your neighbours will look after you. It acts as a heady and reviving spirit as you plunge into the venue just outside of Waterloo.
For The Witch and The Whistleblower, a tale of lost community, soothsayers and a pub landlord, chimes nicely with much that has been lost due to the gentrification of the area. It may be uneven in places but its execution, struggles valiantly through till the end and the script, purpose made for these performances, truly achieves something nearing a supernatural excellence.
It’s 1597 and to be a freethinking woman at this time often meant being outcast, held with suspicion and continually subjugated by the law. The play remarks in song and dance upon how a witch trial could be placed upon a woman with an incredibly scarce amount of evidence. Imagine if homeopaths, social media influencers, fitness instructors, the local tarot card readers on Brighton pier and cat breeders, were reported on BBC News for being burnt at the stake. The protestors would be out indeed. The play reveals the injustice of Witch Hunters and their craft of spinning dubious tales about women supposedly in conspiracy with the devil, during The Great Scottish Witch Hunt, the least documented of five such social upheavals.
Now, praise has been given where its due, exception could be made to some of the creative calls. A Scottish accent wouldn’t go amiss during a performance which relies so heavily upon period costume; likewise, cuts could be made to the ending which drags just a tad (even if, I admit, the transitions between scenes were spectacular); and finally, the energy achieved in the choreography needs to be injected into the dialogue sequences.
Roo Berry, playing Marion, our pub hostess for the evening is a delight and the script gives her all the opportunity to showcase her remarkable talent for fighting, at first with tenderness but then with fury, against Dan Davidson playing John Cowper. Davidson’s voice upon the stage is a feat in itself with its fierce power but, I was still left wondering about his motivations for his character becoming such a beast.
Displaying the complexities of the church is always a difficult subject for a piece of new writing and it was most impressive the way that they handled the church in its rural 16th century costume. But though It was clear how complicated private faith structures worked for women at the time, for men, questions were left unanswered as the audience erupted into a final applause.
I do hope The Glitch is a beginning for this theatre group as they clearly can work historical accounts into an engaging narrative, casting a spell upon an audience who certainly attended with all their senses. It is a piece of new writing that definitively moves us into that time and makes us think of all those forgotten women, left locked in cells, awaiting their imminent execution.
Box Office https://www.tickettailor.com/events/vaultcreativearts/1874827
Presented by Arcana Theatre
Cast:
Roo Berry - Marion
Megan Farquhar - Margaret
Dan Davison - Minister John Cowper
Tia Ray - Edith
Lauren Foreman - JaneSarah Allwright - Hester/Ensemble
Polly Maltby - Anne/Ensemble
Jonty O’Callaghan - Minister Campbell/Ensemble
Meg Russon - Mrs Campbell/Ensemble
Sam Speed - Matthew/Ensemble
Crew:
Writers - Roo Berry, Megan Farquhar, Lauren Foreman, Tia Ray
Composers - Ell Thompson and Jake Dufton
Director - Evie Kerr
Producer - Maddy MacConnol
Movement Director - Vivi BaylissDesigner - Hayley Rae
Stage Managers - Chaz Webb and Kirstie Campbell
