Cultural Notes — Theatre
On March 7, 2026, I attended the matinee performance of Witch by playwright Jen Silverman at Clackamas Community College’s Osterman Theatre in Oregon City.
The play draws inspiration from the story of Elizabeth Sawyer, a real woman who lived in Edmonton, England, in the early seventeenth century. Sawyer was executed for witchcraft in 1621 after accusations from neighbors escalated into a formal trial. Like many women accused during the early modern witch hunts, she was poor, socially isolated, and widely viewed with suspicion by those around her.
Her story quickly entered the cultural imagination. Only months after her execution, the playwrights William Rowley, Thomas Dekker, and John Ford dramatized her case in The Witch of Edmonton (1621). That play was unusual for its time, portraying Sawyer not simply as a villain but as a figure shaped by the cruelty and fear of the society around her.
More than four centuries later, Silverman’s Witch revisits the story through the language of dark comedy and moral fable. In this version, the Devil appears as a charismatic figure known as Scratch, offering the villagers exactly what they desire most. The real tension of the play lies not in supernatural horror but in the choices each character makes when confronted with that offer.
At the center of the story remains Elizabeth Sawyer. In this production she appeared defiant, weary, and quietly strong — a woman clearly aware of how the village sees her and exhausted by the weight of that judgment.
The play begins in striking fashion. Elizabeth Sawyer enters alone, steps forward, and addresses the audience directly. She speaks about the rumors that follow her through the village — whispers at the well, accusations about sick animals, and the quiet certainty that she is already known as “the witch of Edmonton.” In only a few moments, the audience understands that Sawyer’s story is not simply about witchcraft, but about reputation, suspicion, and the way communities decide who belongs.
The play moves between humor and unease, reminding the audience that stories about devils and bargains often reveal more about human ambition than about the supernatural.
When the performance ended shortly before five o’clock, the late afternoon light was still bright outside the theatre. The audience stepped back into ordinary life, carrying the story of Elizabeth Sawyer with them — a woman who, long before any trial or accusation, had already been named and judged by the community around her.
Four centuries later, the questions her story raises about fear, reputation, and belonging remain unsettlingly familiar.
Scott Bryant 
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