Wadham College's small, stark Moser Theatre provided an appropriately austere backdrop for this complex play. And what a complicated beast it was.. It certainly roared.
Caryl Churchill's Vinegar Tom, written in 1976, tells the stories of four women condemned for witchcraft in the sixteenth century. The gang of four comprises Alice, an unmarried prostitute with an illegitimate child; her married friend Susan, who procures an an abortion to escape yet another pregnancy; Alice's mother Joan; and "cunning woman" Ellen, who is the local midwife and an extremely skilled herbalist.
I thought the performances of this very young cast were excellent throughout. Margherita Phillip as Alice caught Alice's dissatisfaction with her limited provincial life very well, while the far more malleable Susan was competently brought to life by Alice Fletcher. Jenny Allen as Joan looked convincingly grey and haggard, although I did notice traces of hair powder puffing into the air when the poor woman was tortured by Henry Packer, "Britain's most famous witch hunter" according to the programme notes.
Joan and her cat, Vinegar Tom, become whipping girl and boy for their respectable neighbours Margery (Sarah Clark) and Jack (Mark O'Brien, looking like a very young Alan Bennett). They blame hard living Joan and Vinegar Tom for the succession of misfortunes they've suffered. In one memorable scene, Margery and Jack visit "cunning woman" Ellen for help. Can she tell them if they have been bewitched? Ellen hands the pair a mirror. "I give you the glass and you see in it what you came to see in it", she says.
Seeing what we want to see is what this play is all about: blaming others or "the other", in this case unconventional women, for our own difficulties, and in the process losing the burden of responsibility for ourselves.
Vinegar Tom is a short play - it lasts just over an hour - and packs a very great deal into a short space of time. A brief review cannot possibly do it justice. I will certainly be chewing it over for a while yet.
We never do find out what happens to Vinegar Tom, although Margery complains that he always escapes with her cream. Typical cat.
Caryl Churchill's Vinegar Tom, written in 1976, tells the stories of four women condemned for witchcraft in the sixteenth century. The gang of four comprises Alice, an unmarried prostitute with an illegitimate child; her married friend Susan, who procures an an abortion to escape yet another pregnancy; Alice's mother Joan; and "cunning woman" Ellen, who is the local midwife and an extremely skilled herbalist.
I thought the performances of this very young cast were excellent throughout. Margherita Phillip as Alice caught Alice's dissatisfaction with her limited provincial life very well, while the far more malleable Susan was competently brought to life by Alice Fletcher. Jenny Allen as Joan looked convincingly grey and haggard, although I did notice traces of hair powder puffing into the air when the poor woman was tortured by Henry Packer, "Britain's most famous witch hunter" according to the programme notes.
Joan and her cat, Vinegar Tom, become whipping girl and boy for their respectable neighbours Margery (Sarah Clark) and Jack (Mark O'Brien, looking like a very young Alan Bennett). They blame hard living Joan and Vinegar Tom for the succession of misfortunes they've suffered. In one memorable scene, Margery and Jack visit "cunning woman" Ellen for help. Can she tell them if they have been bewitched? Ellen hands the pair a mirror. "I give you the glass and you see in it what you came to see in it", she says.
Seeing what we want to see is what this play is all about: blaming others or "the other", in this case unconventional women, for our own difficulties, and in the process losing the burden of responsibility for ourselves.
Vinegar Tom is a short play - it lasts just over an hour - and packs a very great deal into a short space of time. A brief review cannot possibly do it justice. I will certainly be chewing it over for a while yet.
We never do find out what happens to Vinegar Tom, although Margery complains that he always escapes with her cream. Typical cat.