Jane Wenham: the Witch of Walkern Education Work Pack | Produced by out of Joint

Hannah Hutch and Rachel Sanders in rehearsal Jane Wenham: The Witch of Walkern Education Work Pack | Produced by Out of Joint Jane Wenham: The Witch of Walkern is a co-production with Watford Palace Theatre and Arcola Theatre with Eastern Angles. Order the script of the play at a discount from our bookshop: www.outofjoint.co.uk 1 Index Introduction 3 Aim 3 Structure 3 Rebecca Lenkiewicz 3 Ria Parry 4 Summary of the play 4 Research 5 Walkern 5 The Characters 5 History of Witchcraft in England 7 Structure of the Church of England 8 Essay: Witchcraze by Dr. Roberta Anderson 8 Rough Music: Excerpt from our Interview with Owen Davies 10 Rehearsals 11 In the Rehearsal Room: Towards an Ensemble 11 Creating Characters 13 Units and Structure 16 The World of the Play: Design 20 Bibliography (Articles, audio visual and reading material) 21 Production Credits 23 Cat Simmons and David Acton in rehearsals. 2 Introduction Aim The resources, research and information in this study pack are intended to enhance our audiences’ enjoyment and understanding of our work. These resources illustrate the process that was embarked on in rehearsals by the director, the cast, the rest of the creative team and the writer. The pack aims to assist in the practical study of the text. It works alongside the workshops Out of Joint provide, led by the Director, a cast member or our Education Director. These resources are aimed at anyone with an interest in theatre wishing to gain a deeper understanding of the process it took to create this production. Structure The research section offers information about the social and political context surrounding the play. We have also put together a bibliography of our sources to use as references. During rehearsals we had the support of Professor Owen Davies of the University of Hertfordshire a leading expert on Witchcraft and author of several books (included in the bibliography). We’ve included an excerpt of the fascinating information he shared with the cast. The rehearsal section covers the analysis and rehearsal work that has gone into putting this production together. This includes director Ria Parry’s rehearsal process, as well as the challenges of working on an ensemble piece, and a conversation with her about the design of the play. We hope that you find the materials interesting and enjoyable. If there is anything more you would like to know about Jane Wenham, the page-to-stage process of an Out of Joint production, or if you would like to book a workshop, please contact Isabel Quinzaños on 0207 609 0207 or at [email protected]. Rebecca Lenkiewicz Born in 1968 in Plymouth, Lenkiewicz originally did a BA in Film and English at the University of Kent, later doing a BA Acting Course at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Initially she worked as an actor at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, notably in Sir Peter Hall's production of The Bacchae. Lenkiewicz has written many notable plays, is best known as the author of Her Naked Skin (2008), which was the first original play written by a living female playwright to be performed on the Olivier stage of the National Theatre. She has periodically returned to the Arcola Theatre where Jane Wenham, The Witch of Walkern will be performing in January 2016. In fact her first play, Soho: A Tale of Table Dancers, which she wrote for the Royal Shakespeare Company Fringe was the first play to be staged at the Arcola Theatre in 2001. Lenkiewicz won a BAFTA for co-writing the film Ida. The film won the Oscar for Best Film in a Foreign Language. 3 Ria Parry Ria Parry is Co-Artistic Director of Iron Shoes. She received the Leverhulme Director’s Bursary in 2010–11, becoming Director in Residence at the National Theatre Studio. Directing includes Mad About The Boy by Gbolahan Obisesan (Edinburgh Festival and National Tour), Fen by Caryl Churchill (Finborough Theatre), Rewind (a devised production made in collaboration with young refugees and asylum seekers), and a young people's production of King Lear (both at the Young Vic), Our Hearts in the Balance (British Museum), Crush by Paul Charlton (Edinburgh Festival and National Tour). For Box Clever Theatre she has directed tours of Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, The Hate Play and The Buzz. Ria was previously a Creative Producer at Watford Palace Theatre, and a member of the first Step Change Cultural Leadership Programme. Ria Parry in rehearsals Summary of the Play Walkern, Hertfordshire, 1712. It has been almost a lifetime since the persecution of witchery was its height. So it is a great shock when outsider Eleanor Thorn is convicted and hung for witchcraft. Her adolescent daughter Ann Thorn, is taken care of by her mother’s hermit-like friend, Jane Wenham. Meanwhile, young and zealous Reverend Samuel Crane arrives in Walkern to take over the parish. He is a believer in witchcraft and is sure that the recent hanging means there are other witches to be found. He therefore embarks on an investigation of the village that leads him to dig up the community’s secrets. When a child is found drowned in a stream, the whole village is propelled into witch hunting mode, and the prime suspect is outsider and loner Jane Wenham, with her mysterious knowledge of herbs and ability to cure all kinds of ailments. With the whole village out to get her, Jane’s outlook is bleak. The play takes us through the process of collective euphoria and persecution of a village scapegoat. 4 Research Walkern Walkern is located 2 miles from Stevenage, in East Hertfordshire on the River Beane. The parish church of St Mary the Virgin is the oldest village church in Hertfordshire, with a Saxon wall dating back to the middle of the 10th century. The Walkern History Society (www.walkernhistorysociety.co.uk) has a comprehensive account on the village’s most interesting history and notable characters. Walkern in 1912; 200 years after Jane Wenham Characters Jane Wenham was 70 years old when brought to trial for Cunning Woman witchcraft. She was reputed to be a cunning woman in the village A term used to describe of Walkern in Hertfordshire. She had been married twice but was a person who healed, worked magic, created deserted by her second husband Edward Wenham, who died not herbal remedies and long after their separation. There were rumours that Jane was provided charms and somehow involved in his death. anti-witch spells. They were paid a fee for their The trial was initiated by an event that was brought forward to work. magistrates by Jane herself. Jane had asked Matthew Gilson, a farm worker, for some straw to sell several times, but he continually refused her. On the final time Matthew heard Jane mutter to herself as she walked away. He reported that he had felt strangely compelled to run to a place called Munders Green and collect straw from a dung heap, against his will. His boss, John Chapman, was annoyed by this supposed ‘bewitching’ of his employee. He had been suspicious of Jane for a few years up to this point often referring to her as a ‘witch and a bitch’. Jane had heard Chapman’s claims, so went to the magistrate in order to bring a charge of defamation against him. But she was refused protection, and so she said she would have her justice ‘some other way’. The magistrate, Sir Henry Chauncey, following allegations from a second ‘victim’ issued an arrest warrant for Jane. Ann Thorn, who was a maid to the local Reverend’s wife, had had an accident and put her knee out of joint. It had just been set by the bonesetter, however despite this injury she was found in her room one night, partly clothed clutching a bundle of oak twigs that were wrapped up in her gown. She claimed that she had been compelled to run, along White Hill toward Cromer, and met an old woman in a hood who helped her to 5 How to Find a Witch bundle up the sticks. The Reverend was a big believer in witchcraft so ordered Anne to burn the sticks on a fire, and the Pricking: It was believed that a bewitcher of Anne would supposedly appear. Right at that witch could be discovered by moment, Jane Wenham entered the house. pricking their skin with dagger-like instruments. If the pricker could She was the arrested but Jane requested to be put to a trial in find a spot in the witch’s body that an attempt to prove her innocence. She was tested for witch did not issue blood when marks, e.g. a third nipple, had pins driven into her body by a punctured, this would be a sign of ‘Pricker’ to see if her blood flowed. Jane was finally asked to the devil. It was not enough to covict, but it added to the say the Lord’s prayer. She apparently stumbled on reciting, so evidence. Trick devices from the was subsequently imprisoned. The next day she was asked to period have been discovered, such recite it again, but made the same mistake, most likely due to as tools with retractable blades, exhaustion, confusion and fear of the consequences she would used by professional prickers to face. fake a result – and justify their fee. At her trial, evidence was given to support the stories of Witches’ marks and teats: Marks Matthew and Ann, as well as cases of two children dying, the such as scars, moles or rashes deaths of sheep and other livestock, the appearance of found on the body could be signs multiple cats in the village and people reportedly ‘skipping left by the devil, while an extra nipple could be seen as a place about and standing on their heads’.

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