WITCH to Open USC Theatre's 2026/2027 Season

The University of SC theatre program will kick off its 2026/2027 season with Witch by Jen Silverman, running September 25 - October 4 at Benson Theatre.

Show times are 7:30pm Wednesday through Saturday and 3pm on Sunday. Tickets are $12 and available online at sc.universitytickets.com or at the door. Benson Theatre is located on the 2nd floor of the Benson School building at 226 Bull St. (between Bull and Pickens Streets). Witch contains adult language and themes that may not be suitable for young audiences.

A modern adaptation of the 17th-century drama The Witch of Edmonton, Witch tells the tale of a roguish Devil named Scratch who arrives in a small town to offer its citizens their deepest desires in exchange for an eternal price. But Elizabeth Sawyer, an outcast branded a witch by her neighbors, turns the tables on her tempter, sparking a dangerous game of wit and desire that threatens to upend the entire town. Jen Silverman's wickedly funny and provocative play asks what we will sacrifice for our deepest desires when we've got nothing left to lose. “Darkly humorous… thematically current… a spell worth casting.” – The Hollywood Reporter.

“Elizabeth is the hardest sell the devil has to make,” says director David Britt, a senior instructor in the theatre program. “She's not a slave to ambition, and that probably makes her come across to the townspeople as a witch.”

Written in 1621, The Witch of Edmonton was inspired by the trial of the real-life Elizabeth Sawyer, an English woman accused of witchcraft and ultimately executed. Notably, the original play offered a sympathetic view of Elizabeth's plight as a social pariah who only turns to the occult after being subjected to suspicion and abuse. Silverman's script reframes that centuries-old story through a contemporary lens, using modern language to examine how questions of gender, status and societal expectations continue to resonate today.

“In all these years of civilization, has the subject really changed?” Britt says. “We're still arguing and wanting and lusting after the same things.”

While Elizabeth's tete-a-tete with Scratch is a central conflict, Britt says every character has a stake in the story, with each being tested by intensely personal desires. For Britt, those individual journeys highlight the play's exploration of how societal standards shape our life choices. “If you aren't living up to society's standards, you're going to have more of a problem,” Britt says, “but you might also have a better grasp on your life.”

Witch is being staged in Benson Theatre, the program's “black box” performance space that puts actors and audience into close proximity with each other.

“This is an intimate play that brings everyone in,” Britt explains. “At the very beginning of the play, Elizabeth will look you dead in the eye and talk to you. The audience will be pulled into the conversation by this story and these characters.”

The production's all-undergraduate cast includes Kate Anderson (Elizabeth), Joey Bielecki (Scratch), Eliza Bain, Paul Hommel, Zach Krebs, and Luke Shelton. The production's design team is made up Professor Jim Hunter (scenic), instructor Patrick Michael Kelly (sound), and graduate students Cynthia Green-Emekako (costumes) and Victoria Rickards (lighting).

Don't Miss a South Carolina News Story
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...