Review: THE SEVEN WITCHES OF TORRYBURN, Cottiers

The Seven Witches of Torryburn is a play that documents some of the things that went on during Scotland’s witch trials. While it is a work of fiction, it is inspired by real events and real people in 17th-century Fife. The piece is written and directed by Brandon Ferguson, with lyrics and composition by Ciaran Owens and Alia E Torrie. 

It’s 1666 and women in the local town are being accused of witchcraft. They might just be well-read, outspoken or unmarried- the accusers don’t seem to need much hard evidence. Told through first-person accounts of these characters that we get to know, we see how difficult it was for women and how little hope there was at surviving if you are accused.

What The Seven Witches of Torryburn does well is relaying true events with historical accuracy. Running at around 2 hours 20 minutes (including interval), it does start to outstay its welcome and become repetitive. There are some good performances among the cast, and the group vocal numbers work well together.

The scene changes are clunky, and the lighting transitions are quite severe. While this venue is used to great effect for some of the scenes with the Reverend up in the pulpit, it also suffers from loud, echoey footsteps both on and off stage if anyone enters or exits. 

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