witch play by Erika Phoebus

It's 1563...ish, and Anny Chapman wants to get pregnant. No wait, sorry, Anny Chapman MUST get pregnant, or else she could be tried as a witch. As secret fertility treatments from the local alewife, Besse, births an unexpected love between them, the world outside threatens to knock down their door. Meanwhile, the Virgin Mary has arrived on the scene, and she wants her autonomy back… A dark comedy, a love...
It's 1563...ish, and Anny Chapman wants to get pregnant. No wait, sorry, Anny Chapman MUST get pregnant, or else she could be tried as a witch. As secret fertility treatments from the local alewife, Besse, births an unexpected love between them, the world outside threatens to knock down their door. Meanwhile, the Virgin Mary has arrived on the scene, and she wants her autonomy back… A dark comedy, a love story, a ritual, a spell; witch play searches for all the places our pleasure may go, after we’ve chosen to unleash it.
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witch play

Recommended by

  • Shaun Leisher:
    19 Jun. 2023
    “ A brilliant play that I need to see produced!!! An absolute feast for adventurous theatre artists!! ”
  • Surrey Houlker:
    17 Jun. 2023
    “ 'witch play' ignites my lil' Queer heart and makes me feel like I am in on a gloriously sexy, dangerous, and joyful secret. When I saw this reading at GPTC, the humor in Phoebus' script really lifted off the page and drove home the themes of bodily autonomy, Queer love, and the confines of religion. It is one thing to write about the past, but 'witch play' catapults the audience back to a time that is strikingly not unlike our present. I loved it! ”
  • C. Meaker:
    5 Jun. 2023
    “ I've been lucky enough to read this play in several stages of development and it guts me each time. Erika is able to articulate something honest, sexy, and dangerous about queer desire and the kind of witchery it is. To do all that and tell a story that tackles reproductive justice is truly amazing. ”
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Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Great Plains Theatre Commons New Play Conference
    ,
    2023

Awards

Finalist
,
Seven Devils Playwrights Conference
,
2023
Finalist
,
Soho Rep Writer Director Lab
,
2022