About the play

Jewish medium and holocaust survivor, Batch Blattstein; is asked to contact a client’s dead mother. As she attempts to do so she is possessed by two other spirits (who, like herself, have been victims of religious persecution): Lario, a Sicilian goat herder from the time of Garibaldi, who has drowned his wife because he believes she is possessed by the devil (as she was so vocal on their wedding night); and Elspeth; a woman tortured and executed for witchcraft during the 17th-century trials in Pendle, Lancashire. 90 minutes, one versatile actor and one rabbit. Comedy.

‘…Whether or not Witchplay is setting the record straight for the persecuted mediums, ‘witches’, and clairvoyants of the last few centuries is, I think, mostly irrelevant. More importantly, it makes a case for the power of imagination in the face of dictatorship of any kind. “You become a human being only when you doubt,” says Batcha. Funny, thought-provoking, soulful and beautifully acted.’ – The List, Edinburgh Fringe Festival