Several cloaked figures emerged from the shadows of the Black Box Theatre as they chanted “Hecate cerridwen helios tec” in unison.
“Dark mother hear us, let us be reborn to the sun.”
These young women were more than just an ominous acapella group — they were witches.
On March 19, A Voice in the Dark: A Salem Story had its opening night at St. Thomas University.
The play is set during the Salem witch trials and tells the story of Rebecca Nurse, a pious woman who is accused of witchcraft after her husband refuses to sell his house to the power-hungry Thomas Putnam.
While A Voice in the Dark is influenced by the classic play The Crucible, this show tells the story of the town of Salem through the eyes of women.
Sophie Brander, director of the show, was excited to bring a female perspective to the stage.
“[The women in the play] speak out, they resist men and they do what they believe is right, rather than what they’ve been taught is correct,” she said.
The play is also based on the true story of the Salem witch trials, which took place in 1692 and involved the persecution of villagers accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.
Despite the influence of this event on pop culture, the true story of Salem is not often told or rather focuses on the men involved, like The Crucible’s version.
Brander said it is “a hugely misrepresented event in our history.”
“It’s just fascinating because so much of it was just about not wanting women to do things,” she said.
Brander, who has been in theatre since childhood and started directing in high school, was ecstatic when Rachel Rowan, producer of the play, asked her to be the director.
Although she has mainly directed smaller scenes with two or three actors, Brander said it was a lot of fun working with a larger cast.
With auditions held in September, the process of putting the play together was described by Brander to be like the game “Tetris.”
“It’s really great when you’re orchestrating so many people,” she said. “It’s so cool to set up all the little dominoes and watch them fall together.”
Unlike other shows in the Black Box, A Voice in the Dark is set up so the audience surrounds the cast on stage, meaning there are seats on all four sides of the theatre.
This makes the audience immerse themselves in the show and experience the scenes from different angles.
“Everyone has to rewire their brain to be like, ‘there’s nothing wrong.’ Because the first thing you learn, especially as a child actor, is ‘never turn your back to the audience, it’s illegal.’”
For fourth-year theatre student Karlie Curtis, who plays Rebecca Nurse, this new stage set-up took some getting used to, but she said it has been “an interesting journey.”
“You really have to focus and be able to stay in character the whole time and keep the audience kind of in that world,” she said.
It wasn’t just the stage set-up that was new for Curtis — playing Rebecca Nurse was a big change from her typical comedic roles as seen in previous musicals like Groundhog Day, Urinetown and Seussical.
Because Rebecca Nurse was a real victim of the Salem witch trials, Curtis said reading more about her character’s real life added another layer to her portrayal, diving deep into her emotional journey.
“The two most important things in her life are her family and her faith and she stands on that ground and she doesn’t let anyone push her around.”
Curtis said some of her favourite moments during the rehearsal process were the scenes she wasn’t a part of.
“Getting to sit back as an audience member for a moment and see the world that we have created in the box has been really special.”
While the play featured intense fight scenes choreographed by a fight coordinator, its most powerful moments lay in the underlying messages that Curtis and Brander hoped the audience would take away.
“I think a big message that I’ve taken away from this, especially getting to play Rebecca Nurse, is being able to stay true to yourself,” said Curtis.
“It’s a big ‘believe women’ show … You know, ‘don’t just discredit me because I’m a girl.’ That’s the big one,” said Brander.
