An Aberdeen theatre company has found the perfect location to tell the story of the last person executed for witchcraft in the UK: The Kirk of St Nicholas, which used to be a witch prison in the 1500s.
Ten Feet Tall’s theatre production Witch Hunt – specially commissioned for Aberdeen crime-writing festival Granite Noir – will centre on Janet Horne who was executed in Dornoch in 1727.
The new dramatised performance features excerpts from The Last Witch, a haunting script by Aberdeen playwright Rona Munro.
The show’s director Cameron Mowat said: “Instead of giving a history lesson, we wanted to use drama and acting to move and really involve people in the story.
“Janet was a widowed woman whose daughter had a physical disability. The real story slightly differs from Rona Munro’s play. Rona’s story encompasses the witch hunts and the culture on a wider scale.
“There was very much a class system where people were picked up and profiled.
“Also, 85% (approximately) of the people who were prosecuted for witchcraft were women.
“It was as much about the sexualisation of women as the fear that they were meddling with otherworldly spirits.”
The Kirk of St Nicholas as background character in Witch Hunt
Ten Feet Tall theatre company likes to utilise unusual venues to help tell their stories – with some of the buildings even becoming characters in their tales. And Aberdeen’s Kirk of St Nicholas was considered the perfect location to play a supporting role in Witch Hunt.
Cameron said: “In the vault, we were shown this tiny iron ring (which was used to chain those convicted of witchcraft before they were executed) and that alone is enough evidence to make a strong statement about our dark past and our association with witchcraft.”
While most people associate witchcraft with the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts, Cameron tells us that those who’ve done a bit more research into witchcraft know that “Scotland far outweighs America” when it comes to the number of witches prosecuted.
He said: “About 2,500 people were executed in Scotland for witchcraft – compared to about 200 in Salem.”
According to an interactive map created by researchers at Edinburgh University in 2019, more than 3,000 Scottish women were accused of being witches in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The Witch Hunt production will also mark Ten Feet Tall’s return to live theatre post-coronavirus lockdowns.
“It’s exciting for us to get in front of an audience and for it to be in such a magical space,” said Cameron.
“The building has a lot of character so it feels all the more important to share this story and the city’s connection to witchcraft.”
Cameron is thrilled Witch Hunt is part of the Granite Noir festival which runs from today (Thursday February 24) until Sunday February 27.
He said: “Granite Noir is amazing in terms of the variety that they have over the space of a few days. It kind of takes over the city and champions crime-writing, fiction and it shines a light on the city like all the festivals – including Spectra.
“It’s really exciting and thrilling to know there is an appetite for live theatre but also for wanting to learn more about local stories.”
Witch Hunt runs from Friday February 25 to Sunday February 27 at The Kirk of St Nicholas. All performances are now sold out.
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